AOL expands digital music service
updated 10:15 am EDT, Tue August 29, 2006
AOL expands Music Now
AOL today introduced a its own direct-download music store as an expansion of its portal website. Called AOL Music Now, the new Windows-only digital music/video service is subscription-based, offering users unlimited access to songs and music videos for between $10 and $15 per month. The new store represents yet another player in the digital music industry: other include Real Networks (Rhapsody), MSN Music, Yahoo! Music, Napster, MTV (Urge), and many others, including a new "free" (ad-sponsored) SpiralFrog music service from Universal. According to Electronista, AOL Music Now subscribers can transfer that same content to any portable audio player that supports copy-protected Windows Media audio and video. Additionally, the publication reports that a large amount of the content is available to listen to or watch for free through the main portal, including AOL Radio Featuring XM. The company can afford to open up its service this way because its exisiting online presence is large enough not to need extensive marketing, says AOL Music Now president Amit Shafrir.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Mar 2000
unlimited?
Why am I staying with iTunes?
(Oh yea, I have a Mac. On the bright side, at least I don't have to make a decision on what service to use!)