Why Is Sony Launching Its Own Music Service?

[kenzomatic]

While sites like Amazon pull out the big guns in attempt to loosen Apple 's stranglehold on online music, Sony BMG Music Entertainment is opting to cut out the middleman--a strategy that has in the past been met with limited success.

The major-label home for artists such as Alicia Keys and Celine Dion is in the process of developing an all-you-can-eat music subscription service, set to be compatible with a number of music players including, possibly, the Apple iPod .

Speaking with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper, Sony BMG CEO Rolf Schmidt-Holtz suggested a flat rate of $9 to $12 a month for subscriptions, adding that the company might go so far as to let users hold onto certain selections after their subscriptions have lapsed.

Schmidt-Holtz also mentioned the possibility that other music publishers might come on board. While the idea of a music subscription service with rollover songs and iPod compatibility is certainly appealing, it's hard to imagine too many users would possess enough of an alliance to a major like Sony that they'd to choose the company's service over a provider such as Rhapsody or Napster.

LINK - http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2278883,00.asp

More http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i3j2LEso0beTrhwpt9Wd10N3QB6AD8VKGHNG0