A growing online music chorus
Undated-AP -- Apple Computer launched the first service offering a wide selection of individual songs that could be downloaded for a low price and without having to pay a monthly subscription fee. But its iTunes Music Store is only for Mac users. Now, along comes Buy-dot-com's BuyMusic, something similar for the P-C market. However, it comes with more restrictions on how the music can be used, so Forrester Research analyst Josh Bernoff is not too impressed. He says BuyMusic looks as though it was quickly thrown together, and it isn't as simple or consistent as the Apple site.
Bernoff says Windows computer users will have to be patient. Apple is promising to launch a P-C version of iTunes by the end of the year. And others, including Amazon-dot-com, MusicNet, PressPlay and a reborn Napster, also are planning to jump in with their own Windows-based buy-as-you-go music services.
They'll be doing that while the music industry continues its war on unauthorized music sharing.
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