LATimes: Jon Healy writes: “Yahoo Music Unlimited is more like a cable TV service than a record store, letting subscribers play as much music as they wish for as long as they pay $6.99 a month or an annual subscription of $60.”
Well, yes and no. It’s like cable in the sense that it’s a subscription. But, unlike cable, subscription music is completely on demand and can lead to purchased downloads that last after the subscription. (Conversely, if you’ve used cable to record to a DVD or VHS, you may still have access after service stops.)
Some more coverage:
– News.com: “Record label executives who have seen the service, which is in part based on wholesaler MusicNet’s technology, say the community aspect in particular shows a promising evolution for the online music business.” News.com’s story may have been the catalyst for today’s announcement.
– WSJ:”It’s a hugely aggressive move, a shot in the arm to the subscription notion,” says David Card, an analyst at Jupiter Research.
– FT: One analyst questioned how Yahoo’s new service could be profitable with such low prices…Goldberg said the service would make money, although he did not rule out raising prices in the future.
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