LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Three of the world's major record labels and software provider RealNetworks Inc. Tuesday will launch MusicNet, an online subscription venture, the biggest effort by the music industry to distribute music profitably over the Internet.
The service will launch on RealNetworks' new RealOne service -- which melds its popular RealPlayer and RealJukebox -- at a price of $9.95 a month, a spokeswoman said Monday.
The fusing of these services into one marks RealNetworks' biggest move toward the nuts-and-bolts of delivering content on the Web as it competes with Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Media Player.
Subscribers would pay $9.95 for the RealOne service, which offers content from news, sports and entertainment, or pay $9.95 for RealOne Music, which includes MusicNet and other music features, or they can get both for a combined fee.
Under the MusicNet subscription, subscribers will be able get 100 Webcast sources and 100 downloads a month from a selection of over 75,000 songs at launch.
MusicNet's biggest shareholder is RealNetworks, and the other partners include AOL Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Music, EMI Group Plc, Bertelsmann AG's BMG and Zomba, an independent firm.
MusicNet will be distributed via other distribution partners, including AOL, before the end of the month, an AOL spokeswoman said. The service launches a day after independent online music firm Listen.com rolled out its Rhapsody subscription service and weeks before rivals Vivendi Universal's Universal Music and Sony Music launch their competing Pressplay service.
DOUBTS ABOUND
While the industry has been criticized for waiting too long to launch these services, other industry watchers are skeptical they can succeed against a host of free online services that still operate in the wake of Napster's shutdown.
Napster, the phenomenally popular service that attracted an estimated 60 million users at its peak, shut down in July after it was sued for coypright infringement. Napster plans to restart as a secure subscription service in the first quarter of 2002.
Analysts and industry players doubt these services will be lure millions of paying fans who are used to getting music online for free. They note that the services have limited selection, while Napster was unlimited, which ultimately led to its legal demise.
Another drawback? The new breed of services limit users' ability to record music onto portable devices, analysts said.
The portability of digital music has been a major draw to fans. For years, they have transferred everything from Jewel to Talking Heads from the Web to blank CDs for free, using services like Napster.
