[webintosh]

All this talk about for-pay iTools services got me thinking.

There's a hodgepodge of different music subscription services out there. Very few are based on open standards (restrictions with burning, copying, etc.). Very few work on a Mac.

Jobs has said that Apple would like to tow the middle line between promoting music piracy and restricting music usage by its customers.

An Apple-branded music service. Wouldn't surprise me...

[Chaaaosss]

That's a very, very, very intelligent thought. Extremely intelligent.

[esc]

It is one of the few things I could think of that would have me paying $100 a year for a service...

[ls -al]

Have you guys seen http;//www.emusic.com/ They have over 200,000 songs (17,000 albums) for download. All in MP3 format. This is the bulk of the Universal's portfolio! They've got some rare albums that haven't been reissued in a long time.

This is great if you are into Jazz! There's tons of Miles, Coltrane, Bill Evans and other cats.

I'd like to see this integrated into iTunes 3.0!!

[scottiB]

emusic.com rocks--well worth the $10/month

[Toyin]

The music idea is brilliant. I would be very, very psyched to give my cash to Apple for quality music downloads. This is what Napster should have done years ago.

In the meantime I'll have to take a look at this emusic.

[webintosh]

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Geneva, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="1" face="Geneva, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif">Originally posted by ls -al:
<strong>Have you guys seen http;//www.emusic.com/ They have over 200,000 songs (17,000 albums) for download. All in MP3 format. This is the bulk of the Universal's portfolio! They've got some rare albums that haven't been reissued in a long time.
</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="1" face="Geneva, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif">I signed up for a 14-day trial last week and I was pretty impressed with the selection you get. They have the right idea. Flat monthly fee, standard MP3s, easy UI, etc. Still, with their catalog confined to a few labels, this is not a mass market product.

[scottiB]

I was thinking more of webintosh's idea as I drove to the office: brilliant.

Considering all that's happening with the "Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act" (CBDTPA)--with Michael Eisner's Senate subcommittee testimony misappropriating Apple's "Rip. Mix. Burn." slogan--having Apple provide it's customers with music, a la emusic.com, is advantageous.

Aside: If this is true, I wonder if that's why Apple no longer includes 650 MB of mp3s preloaded on new Macs--at least my iBook/700 didn't include any.

To be successful, though, the content would need to be a tad more popular than emusic's (which, as approaching middle age, I don't mind ).

I'd pony up the $8.34 US per month.