It’s no big surprise, but if there’s money to collect anyone’s free to have a go. Here’s yet another music-download service that doesn’t even try to be the best in something. It’s a moderate mix of the services that already exist. But, hey, the more the merrier.
From [Forbes]
“Target officials did not respond to multiple requests for comment, and Loudeye executives declined to comment.” [...]
“Target isn’t the first offline retailer to offer an online music service. Virgin Megastore launched its own tethered subscription plan last fall, priced at $2 less than the monthly fees charged for tethered services by Napster and Real’s Rhapsody, which cost $9.99 per month. Wal-Mart Stores has been selling digital music downloads since March 2004.
But neither retailer has made a significant splash in the market. Major label executives have been particularly disappointed with the performance of Wal-Mart’s iTunes-like offering, which they say has not leveraged foot traffic at the giant chain’s 3,000-plus stores into commensurate sales. Neither company has released sales data for their respective offerings.
Label executives say they hope that Target will be able to help give digital music services a push by focusing on families–particularly mothers who control their families’ budgets–and by explaining exactly how a subscription service works.
Quote [Engadget] : “Yeah, um, good luck with that.”
“Just when you thought everybody already had a music service, along comes Target to cash in on the action.
They’ll be doing both the per-track download thing a la iTunes Music Store and the portable subscription thing a la Napster, Yahoo!, and RealNetworks.
The portable service will probably be priced in between Yahoo’s $6.99 and Napster’s $14.95 monthly.”