AOL Time Warner Inc's America Online, the world's biggest Internet service, will begin selling subscriptions to a new Internet music service today in an attempt to boost sales and retain its 27 million US customers.
Subscribers to MusicNet on AOL will be asked to pay as much as US$17.95 a month for access to 250,000 songs by performers from all five of the world's biggest music companies. The service, like its year-old rival Pressplay, seeks to draw music fans away from free song-swapping sites such as Kazaa.
America Online faces the challenge of reviving revenue growth by attracting users to its faster broadband Internet connections, which provide higher quality sound and video, while retaining the dial-up customers upon which the company built its business.
"This product both adds value to the dial-up connection and provides people an incentive to upgrade to AOL Broadband," Kevin Conroy, senior vice president of AOL Entertainment, said in an interview. "It also appeals to people who might never have been an AOL member."
America Online postponed MusicNet's debut on its service for a year because of technical problems and unfavorable reviews of its original design.
America Online is trying to compete against Microsoft Corp's MSN and other competitors for broadband Internet customers by offering exclusive content and other services.
It's also battling lower advertising sales and profit while lower-cost Internet services such as United Online Inc gain customers.
America Online lost 170,000 US customers in the fourth quarter, the company's first quarterly subscriber decline.
"They probably realize they won't be the No. 1 Internet service provider in the future," said Lee Black, an analyst at Jupiter Research. "What they are doing here is not only building out their online music strategy but trying to get new subscribers to come to AOL."
Shares of AOL Time Warner rose US$0.37 on Tuesday to US$10.43 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock has fallen 56 percent in the past year.
Executives at America Online Inc and Time Warner Inc promised investors two years ago that a combined company could use online strength to bolster entertainment businesses such as music.
America Online's US$124 billion purchase of Time Warner was the biggest acquisition ever.
The rollout of AOL Time Warner's new online music product stalled while the music industry has struggled to halt illegal music trading on free sites such as Kazaa, Morpheus and the now-defunct Napster.
America Online said it will offer members a 30-day free trial to MusicNet at AOL. Afterward, consumers can choose from three pricing plans -- US$3.95 a month for 20 streams, or song plays, and 20 downloads; US$8.95 a month for unlimited streaming and downloading; or US$17.95 a month for unlimited streaming and downloading plus the ability to copy 10 songs onto a CD.
America Online said it expects most customers to choose the US$8.95 package. Later this year, the service will offer music available for copying on a song-by-song basis for about US$0.99.
Music companies haven't perfected technology that can prevent illegal copying while permitting users to transfer downloaded songs between devices such as personal computers and portable stereos.
BACK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The planned transit by the ‘Baden-Wuerttemberg’ and the ‘Frankfurt am Main’ would be the German Navy’s first passage since 2002 Two German warships are set to pass through the Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Reuters last month reported that the warships, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main, were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing. Der Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasize that Berlin views the trip as normal. The German Federal Ministry of Defense declined to comment. While
‘REGRETTABLE’: TPP lawmaker Vivian Huang said that ‘we will continue to support Chairman Ko and defend his innocence’ as he was transferred to a detention facility The Taipei District Court yesterday ruled that Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) be detained and held incommunicado over alleged corruption dating to his time as mayor of Taipei. The ruling reversed a decision by the court on Monday morning that Ko be released without bail. After prosecutors on Wednesday appealed the Monday decision, the High Court said that Ko had potentially been “actively involved” in the alleged corruption and ordered the district court to hold a second detention hearing. Ko did not speak to reporters upon his arrival at the district court at about 9:10am yesterday to attend a procedural
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
The Executive Yuan yesterday warned against traveling to or doing business in China after reports that Beijing is recruiting Taiwanese to help conceal the use of forced Uighur labor. The government is aware that Taiwan-based influencers and businesses are being asked to make pro-Beijing content and offered incentives to invest in the region, Executive Yuan acting spokeswoman Julia Hsieh (謝子涵) told a news conference. Taiwanese are urged to be aware of the potential personal and reputational harm by visiting or operating businesses in China, Hsieh said, adding that agencies are fully apprised of the situation. A national security official said that former Mainland
RSS