Sky to launch music subscription service
Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008SkyTunes vs iTunes
Sky are set to launch a new digital music subscription service in a joint venture with Universal Music. Customers will pay a monthly subscription to the service, rather than buying music on a track-by-track basis. They will be entitled to a number of free streamed tracks, as well as a set number of tracks to download and own from the thousands available from Universal Music’s vast collection. Sky says this is a world first for digital music. The pricing and number of tracks available for download will be revealed nearer to the launch.
Tracks will be downloaded in MP3 format, and can be downloaded to any MP3 device, such as an iPod or mobile phone handset. Unlike tunes bought from rival iTunes, which accounts for 70% of the digital music market in the UK, the music will be free of DRM copy protection software, so it will be available to play on any device, including Apple’s iPod.
Whereas iTunes and other rivals tend to hone their advertising to individuals, Sky intends to target families, which make up a large part of their existing customer base. “Sky already has contact with one in three British homes through our television service,” said BSkyB’s chief operating officer Mike Darcy, “and we’ve got plenty of experience of running a subscription model. We have considerable expertise in customer-focused subscription services, content aggregation, packaging and marketing,” he said. “We have strong broadband services and online assets… No one has brought that to bear.”
He added that the Sky subscription service would also help tackle file-sharing by offering an affordable and legal way of downloading music which would make sure that “artists are properly rewarded for their creativity.”
Lucian Grange, CEO and chairman of Universal Music Group said subscribers would welcome a “safe, state-of-the-art service and legal alternative to those services which exploit services without compensation,” which would be “a lot more appealing than piracy”.
Sky is currently trying to persuade other companies to join in the venture with Sky remaining the majority shareholder.
