AOL Time Warner, Bertelsmann, EMI and RealNetworks Create New Platform for Online Music Subscription Services
"This marks the first time a majority of the major record companies has licensed music to a venture whose goal is mass subscription distribution over the Internet. MusicNet will offer distributors an extensive collection of popular music content over one platform, and will benefit recording artists by providing new opportunities to reach fans and other consumers with their music in a secure and protected fashion."
Ok, it will be "major", "secure and protected", but what benefits will it have as a consumer service? I mean, appart from being official? The quoted VPs say "easy", "fast", "accessible" and Musicnet is apparently about giving "music consumers significantly more choice, convenience and flexibility". We’ll see how these good intentions translate into reality. Anyway, RealNetworks benefits from the rivalry between AOL TW and Microsoft.
04/07/01 update: Yahoo! strikes music deal (with Duet, that is Vivendi Universal + Sony), MSN Music First Of Many Planned MSN Services.
