Yahoo plans to launch an early version of a new flagship music service this week, in hopes of capturing some of the online music momentum now held by Apple Computer, sources familiar with the plans say.
The service, which sources say is expected to be released Wednesday, is built in large part around a monthly subscription plan similar to those now offered by Napster and RealNetworks, allowing customers to download music onto their portable devices.
But Yahoo also has spent considerable time building links to its other products, such as the company’s popular instant messaging application, with the aim of making community and legal music-sharing among subscribers a core part of the service.
Record label executives who have seen the service, which is in part based on wholesaler MusicNet’s technology, say the community aspect in particular shows a promising evolution for the online music business.
“They’ve unpacked the opportunities and social aspects of the peer-to-peer environment, taken the best aspects away from that, and put them back into their environment,” said one top record label executive familiar with recent versions of the service, who asked not to be named.
Yahoo and MusicNet each declined to comment on the potential release of the service.
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