Monday, September 24, 2007

RIP - Virgin Music Store. Another one bites the dust with the demise of the Virgin Online Music store. Joining Sony Connect, (and Generalissimo Francisco Franco who is still dead) and MSN Music. No analysis needed here, I think the news speaks for itself about what the state of the market is here. This was no surprise and in fact it's as predicted. The market simply won't bear a multitude of different devices tied to proprietary services and stores offering about the same level of functionality. Remember what happened in the PC industry with all the so-called IBM compatibles, battling for market share with similar but not identical offerings. (that is until a little place called Compaq came out with a direct clone of the IBM PC not just a compatible). Look for some interesting players to get into the space later this year and then look for a bigger shakeout in 2007. This isn't over yet. Look for more obituaries coming soon. [Michael Gartenberg] comment []9:42:50 PM

Starbucks to give away music as new service starts. NEW YORK (Reuters) - Starbucks Corp said on Monday it will give away millions of songs via downloads starting next month as it launches a wireless music service with Apple Inc . [Reuters: Technology News] comment []1:10:09 PM

Virgin unplugs music download service. Apple 1, Branson 0 Virgin has closed Virgin Digital, its Windows Media-based alternative to Apple's iTunes. It stopped selling one-off downloads on Friday, though subscribers will still have access to their collections until their next monthly payment is due.âo[oe] [The Register] comment []12:59:07 PM

Free-market think tank urges EU to unbundle Windows. 'No natural monopoly' The Globalisation Institute, a European think-tank run by free market advocates, today went on the offensive against Microsoft, calling on the EU to require all PCs to be sold without operating systems.âo[oe] [The Register] comment []12:56:24 PM

© Copyright 2007 William T Goodall.