Legal online music services began their biggest test Wednesday, as America Online launched a long-awaited paid-subscription music plan aimed at competing with free services such as Kazaa.
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The Record Companies will never learn!
Record label executives welcomed AOL’s release, calling it a big stride forward for MusicNet’s technology, and for reaching new online audiences.
“This is really a step forward in terms of a consumer-friendly legal service,” said Ted Cohen, vice president for new media at EMI Recorded Music. “This is prime time.”
Pricing and features of the new service will be similar to rivals. Subscribers will be offered three tiers. For $3.95 a month, subscribers will be able to download 20 songs and listen to 20 streams. An $8.95 tier will provide access to unlimited downloads and unlimited streams. For $17.95, subscribers will keep the unlimited access, but be able to burn 10 songs per month to CD.
Perhaps the biggest limitations on the AOL service is that it is tied directly to AOL memberships, and searching and downloading content can be done only while logged into AOL.
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