ZDNet UK / News and Analysis / Business of IT / IT Strategy

Pressplay to offer unlimited downloads

By John Borland, CNet, 1 August, 2002 07:41

Daily Newsletters

Sign up to ZDNet UK's daily newsletter.

Topics

Download, Internet, MP3, Unlimited, pressplay, sony music

NEWS
Stung by tepid market reception to its online music subscription service, major music label-backed Pressplay plans to offer listeners access to an unlimited supply of music for a set period for a single fee. The company is expected to announce a new pricing plan and software package beginning Thursday, according to sources familiar with the plans. Under one section of the new plan, subscribers will be able to download or stream an unlimited number of songs to their computer for a single annual fee of $179.40 (£114), the equivalent of today's $14.95 monthly fee, according to a customer service representative. While other independent companies have offered unlimited access to music before, it's the first time one of the label-backed subscription plans has cracked the door this wide to its catalog. As such, it marks a concession that the "all you can eat" expectations of consumers reared on services like Napster or Kazaa may well be a permanent feature of the online music landscape. "It's a recognition that their previous offering didn't resonate with consumers," said Michael Goodman, a senior analyst with research firm The Yankee Group. "And it shouldn't have -- faced with the choice between unlimited content for free (through file-swapping services) or limited content that people couldn't do much with, it was a no-brainer." Pressplay, along with rival MusicNet and independent companies including Listen.com, FullAudio and RioPort, has spent the last seven months trying to persuade consumers to pay for music subscription services instead of downloading from peer-to-peer services. But to win licenses from the major labels, all these services have imposed strict limitations on what consumers can do with their music, badly undermining their appeal. Pressplay, a joint venture between Sony and Vivendi Universal, has gone the furthest in allowing some limited ability to burn songs to CDs and transfer them to portable device. But its model, charging $14.95 a month for just 50 downloaded songs and 500 streams, had drawn criticism from consumers and analysts. The new plan eliminates that barrier. Along with the unlimited downloads and streams, consumers will be able to burn 120 songs a year to CDs after paying their annual fee. Packages that allow more songs to be burned will be available for individual purchase. Sources familiar with the plans said other new features will be added or expanded, including the offer of downloads that can be permanently downloaded and transferred to portable devices. However, sources said that some of the music currently available on Pressplay, which offers songs from Sony, Universal, and EMI Music, will not be available under all the features of the new plan. A Pressplay representative did not immediately return calls for comment. Analysts said the move indicates that Pressplay's parent music labels are beginning to take a more flexible approach to the digital market. "There clearly has been a loosening of the (major music labels') business rules, and that's a step in the right direction," Goodman said. Pressplay's move to an all-you-can-eat model isn't good news for Listen.com, which had set apart its streaming-based subscription service from rivals by offering unlimited consumption. Listen does have access to all five major record catalogs, however, which Pressplay and MusicNet both lack. Listen.com on Wednesday signed agreements to distribute its Rhapsody service through two high-speed Internet access partners in the US, AOL Time Warner's RoadRunner and Hughes Electronics' DirecTV Broadband.
See the MP3 News Section for the latest on everything from MP3 players to Napster and the other music swapping services. Have your say instantly, and see what others have said. Go to the Napster Debate. Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom.

Related stories

Pressplay slips onto MP3.com

Heart of England NHS begins massive digitisation plan

Hard-drive woes hit PC shipments in fourth quarter

Post your comment

In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.

You can also log in with Facebook. Log in or create your ZDNet UK account below

  • Login

Will not be displayed with your comment

By signing up for this service, you indicate that you agree to our Terms and Conditions and have read and understood our Privacy Policy. Questions about membership? Find the answers in the Community FAQ

Get ZDNet UK's daily newsletter

Enter your email address to sign up

ZDNet UK Live

bootlegger

Make that 13 people now - I got refused today at Manchester airport. I thought I was up to date on this legislation - I knew of the EU ruling from...

2 hours ago by bootlegger on UK airport body scans will not be opt out
tinycg

Don't forget to check out apps like GoodReader or SlideShark either, they're indispensible for people on the go in presentation situations. Best...

5 hours ago by tinycg on Four top iPad apps for people on the move
TerryRK

Well it seems there is something a number of us agree on. Why is the Ubuntu Unity launcher so ugly? I thought perhaps it was something to do with...

10 hours ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Freebies202

Duplicate comments are not made intentionally. Its very good to know that now you are keeping check on this problem because sometimes a commenter...

19 hours ago by Freebies202 on Microsoft fixes blog comments, speeds up blogs with open source
kevinmchapman

"the very significant number of users" and "many (most) of us" - you have no evidence for these statements. It is a fact that most users are saying...

1 day ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Marg Menzies Harrison

Another grammar faux pas is the improper use of "you". When sitting down down in a restaurant, for example, I get cringe when the waitress...

1 day ago by Marg Menzies Harrison via Facebook on 10 flagrant grammar mistakes that make you look stupid
zdnetukuser

And NOW, folks, for Canonical's next trick... Kubuntu is late. Here's a pencil. Draw your own conclusions. cf.:...

1 day ago by zdnetukuser on Linux Minterface
Moley

@kevinmchapman. The discussion here reflects the very significant number of users who really do like the traditional menu system and who wish to...

1 day ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
kevinmchapman

Er, no... It is an efficient means of finding the application/file/setting you need in one place. The icons are a simply a fallback for when you...

1 day ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
TerryRK

Isn't the provision of a text based search an admission by the developers that the mass of icons approach does not work? I don't need to use a...

1 day ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
kevinmchapman

"Unity and GNOME 3 both abandon the old text-based cascading menus in favour of a graphical icon-driven system." Point truly missed. Both use a...

1 day ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
TerryRK

whs001 - Thank you, I'm glad you liked the article. I absolutely agree with you on your first point. I should perhaps have made it clearer that...

1 day ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Dennis Nilsson

If we allow corporate interest to dictate the way our government circumvents due process against foreign entities then we should accept the same...

1 day ago by Dennis Nilsson via Facebook on ACTA stumbles in Germany
GHar123

I totally dislike pirating of works, I fear that artists will be deterred from creating works if they think that they are going to get ripped off....

2 days ago by GHar123 on ACTA stumbles in Germany
JCB33

How dare film makers, artists or anybody that invests in creativity stop us pirating their works for free. I want to be able to walk into my local...

2 days ago by JCB33 on ACTA stumbles in Germany
Moley

@GrueMaster. I prefer horses for courses rather than one size fits all. I, and I suspect most other computer users, do not really wish to have...

2 days ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
greycynic

The product that scares me every time I have to use it is the Office 2007 version of Excel. The first bug that I found was applying the median...

2 days ago by greycynic on Ten flawed products that derail productivity
GrueMaster

Nice review and very informative. One thing I'd like to add (in reply to whs001's 1st question), the main reason to have the same interface from...

2 days ago by GrueMaster on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Frederick Wrigley

I'be been using Mint 12 since the RC came out, and I am far more happy with the Cinnamon, the Mate, and, yes (with extensions), theGnome 3...

2 days ago by Frederick Wrigley via Facebook on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
bdantas

Excellent article. One small correction, though--although a fresh installation of Linux Mint 12 will, indeed, provide the user with a version of...

2 days ago by bdantas on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Latest in IT Strategy

Heart of England NHS begins massive digitisation plan

Hard-drive woes hit PC shipments in fourth quarter

Featured white papers

Value of a team: Five pillars to strengthen employee culture

Citrix Online

Value of a team: Five pillars to strengthen employee culture

This white paper explores how to define objectives for employees and clients and how the business can benefit from encouraging... Read more

Key trends driving global business resilience and risk

IBM

Key trends driving global business resilience and risk

This IBM research paper looks at how businesses are thinking more about business resilience by improving the ability to adapt to a continuously changing business... Read more

Cloud computing security: A practical guide

SunGard Availability Services

Cloud computing security: A practical guide

Cloud computing has been the belle of the IT ball, but can you trust it to keep data reliable and... Read more

Inside ZDNet UK

A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

2012 Predictions: VCE FastPath, VI SAN Probe & Hadoop

2012 Predictions: VCE FastPath, VI SAN Probe & Hadoop

BlackBerry Bold 9790

BlackBerry Bold 9790

Make faster, smarter decisions using BI

Make faster, smarter decisions using BI

Ten factors that make Ubuntu 11.10 a hit

Ten factors that make Ubuntu 11.10 a hit

Toshiba Portégé Z830-10P Review

Toshiba Portégé Z830-10P Review

BT's archive: Pictures from the vault

BT's archive: Pictures from the vault