Major labels EMI and Warner Music and indie label Beggars Group have teamed up to launch a DRM-free MP3 service offering unlimited downloads for £99.99
In addition to going up against services such as MySpace Music, Nokia's Comes With Music and Apple's iTunes music store ('the elephant in the corner of the room' as many in the industry refer to it) the Datz Music Lounge is clearly an attempt to claw back some revenue from users currently getting their music fix from illegal download sites.
DRM-free bounty
Pay your £99.99 and you will get a USB key (available from supermarkets later this week) which will give you a full year's legal access to around 2.5m tracks from the three labels which you can download to your PC and then play back on any mobile phone, iPod or other MP3 player.
Be warned though. Don't download more than you can "reasonably listen to in a lifetime", or your Datz membership will be suspended.
Matthew Crosswaite, senior vice-president of sales and commercial development for EMI UK & Ireland, said Datz is a "valuable and insightful tool for understanding how consumers explore and react to EMI's deep and rich back catalogue".
Your comments (3) Click to add a new comment
watcherzero
October 31st 2008
3. The problem with these services is they give the artists next to nothing. The Music labels take the majority of the profit and then ***** that declining cd sales, cheap internet music and piracy is hurting the artists.
Alert a moderator
philocrates
October 31st 2008
2. Erm... it's DRM free??
Alert a moderator
pete_l
October 31st 2008
1. reasonable for a lifetime?
Let's see: say 1 hour each way commuting, 10 songs per hour, 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year for 40 years - 200,000 songs!
However, should you trust these guys - given the history of other companies pulling their services or shutting down their DRM servers? A lifetime is a long time in the record biz.
Alert a moderator
Tell us what you think
You need to Log in or register to post comments