Originally published November 29 2005
Yahoo music doubling music subscription price
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
After a short promotion offering lower prices, Yahoo is doubling the cost of its music subscription service for MP3s. The service will now cost $11.99 a month, which is still less expensive than Napster or RealNetworks.
Effective Nov. 1, Yahoo will charge about US$120 annually for access via download to more than 1 million songs that can then be transferred to portable players.
The Internet powerhouse has been charging just under $60 annually -- a price most industry observers predicted wouldn't last when Yahoo entered the market in early May.
Below the Competition Subscribing to the service on a monthly basis will cost $11.99, up from $6.99 under the initial pricing plan.
That's closer to but still below services from Napster and RealNetworks (Nasdaq: RNWK), which each charge just under $15 per month.
With its service, Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo joined Napster and RealNetworks in trying to sell the concept of renting an unlimited amount of tunes for a set fee instead of buying copies individually.
The rental approach is supposed to encourage customers to sample different genres and discover new artists.
But if the subscription expires, the previously downloaded music becomes unplayable.
Customers at Apple's iTunes store, by contrast, keep the songs they buy.
Compatibility Conflicts Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said Yahoo's low rental prices didn't impress most consumers because the service isn't compatible with Apple's iPod -- which boasts about 75 percent of the market for portable players.
"About 90 percent of the [iTunes] music store's success has to do with the devices that it works with," Munster said.
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