So much for all of Yahoo’s tough “We’re taking on iTunes” talk.
The portal is nearly doubling the price of its online music subscription service from $6.99 to $11.99 per month. The service, which debuted in May, lets users download selections from the company’s 1-million-song library, but the songs are just rentals and meant to sit on the user’s MP3 player.
“Under the rental model, consumers must pay a recurring fee and synchronize their portable players with the subscription service at least once a month to preserve the music. If the subscription expires, the previously downloaded music becomes unplayable,” writes USA Today.
Any user who wants to burn a “rented” song to a CD must pay an additional 79 cents per song, as opposed to iTunes’ 99-cents-per-song, you own it, no-subscription-fee model.
Researchers say Apple owns 75% of the portable music industry through its powerhouse (and proprietary) iPod/iTunes combo.
Via USA Today
