Tag: Subscription

Apple explores new music options – iTunes Pass

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This is what I like to see – innovative new ways of buying music that encourages people to actually spend money on bands they love. Venturebeat reports that Apple is experimenting with something called iTunes Pass, which allows fans to buy a pass for a certain group or artist and then get everything that artist releases for a given time period.

Apple’s piloting it with Depeche Mode. You can buy a pass for $19 and you’ll get the band’s new single right now, the album when it comes out, and some other exclusive tracks too. You’ll also get any videos and artwork that the band puts out before June 16th, which is when the pass expires.

All the content you get is DRM-free, though it will show up in Apple’s AAC format. Apple also guarantees that the value of the pass won’t exceed the value of the individual items, so you’re getting a good deal however you look at it.

For my favourite bands, I’d definitely sign up for this. For stuff I’m less excited about, I wouldn’t, but that’s not really the point of the scheme. It’s about making fans feel special, giving bands a greater connection to those people, and maybe actually making some money off music again. Good work, Apple.

Is it something you’d use? What bands would you sign up for if they were offered? Let us know in the comments.

(via Venturebeat)

Duncan Geere Digital Music

Sky offers Sky+HD box for under fifty quid as satellite giant pushes high definition

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Sky has decided that it’s time to get really aggressive when it comes to high definition in the UK, and to that end has slashed the price of its Sky+HD box to just £49. That’s a third of the price it was early last year (£150) and is the satellite broadcaster’s hope of getting many more subscribers hooked on pay-for-HD.

In fact, thanks to a lot of enticing marketing and the lure of a variety of sports, films and other content in high definition, Sky has just had its best quarter — in the three months to the end of December, 188,000 people signed up for high-def services, taking the total number of subscribers to nearly 800,000…

Andy Merrett HDTV, Satellite TV

RUMOUR: Sky launching its music subscription service in April

Many have tried to make the all-you-can-eat subscription model work for music, but it’s never taken off due to incompatibilities between different portable music players and the lack of any big companies really getting behind it. Well, we’re hearing a rumour that Sky will finally launch its previously-announced subscription service in April.

Last we heard, we were promised a mix of both streaming and downloadable tracks. Over Christmas, pricing was allegedly leaked – unlimited free streams, plus a set number of MP3 downloads each month. £5.99 for 5 downloads, £7.99 for 10 and £9.99 for 15.

I’ve asked Sky for more details, and I’m waiting to hear back. I, for one, am convinced that it’s not only possible for a subscription service to work, but it’s actually the future of mass-market music consumption. There’s too many people who don’t care about anything beyond the top 40 for that not to be the case.

Related posts: NOISE GATE: Why music subscription services will eventually work | Sky and Universal Music partner to launch subscription music streaming and download service

Duncan Geere Digital Music

Orange to offer Eee 901 with 3G for £25 a month

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Cautiously speaking, this looks like a good deal. If you’ve been thinking about getting a netbook then you’re probably familiar with the Eee 901, which is one of the best on the market. Well, Orange are poised to start selling the Eee for £25 a month on a two year contract with a 3GB-a-month data cap.

It’ll only be available in black and pink, but you also get the ability to send 100 texts from the device, too. The only problem? The device will probably be looking very long in the tooth in two year’s time, given that it’s nearly a year old already, and data will be considerably cheaper by then, too. Plus £25 a month over 24 months is £600. That’s a lot of cash for a machine that Asus are phasing out.

Orange (via Electric Pig)

Duncan Geere Computers, Laptops / Notebooks

Microsoft Equipt launching in UK next Monday: rent Office software

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Microsoft has announced that it will be launching its Equipt software subscription service in the UK next week. We announced the service in July, when it became available to US customers for $70 per year.

The service offers Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007, Windows Live OneCare, and Windows Live tools for an annual subscription of £59.99 (the exchange rate rip-off is at work again). It will initially be sold through PC World.

Andy Merrett Software

NOISE GATE: Why music subscription services will eventually work

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This is the second installment of Noisegate, my weekly column on digital music. If you’re interested, then you can find last week’s, as well as future weeks’ columns right here.

This week I’m going to talk about subscription services and mobile phones. With the launch of Nokia’s “Comes with Music” expected this Thursday, and Sony Ericsson’s “PlayNow” service expected soon, too, I thought now would be a good time to muse on whether subscription services will ever really work in the long term.

Duncan Geere Digital Music, Noise Gate

Sony Ericsson to launch mobile music service in a stunning display of originality

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Sony Ericsson’s fortunes and market share have been declining of late, there are rumours floating around that they’re thinking about launching a mobile music service to fix things called “Me Too”. Just kidding. It’s actually called “Playnow”, named after their existing “Playnow Arena” a-la-carte download service available only in Scandinavia…

Duncan Geere Digital Music