Yahoo Music Unlimited

On Tuesday 10th May Yahoo launched their beta version of Yahoo Music Unlimited.

A new subscription service for US users that offers unlimited streaming of 1 million tracks for a price of $6.99 per month or $59.88 per year.

Upon subscription you will be allowed to stream and transfer to portable devices. These being an mp3 player that currently supports Windows digital music format.  No iPod action here then.  It also includes access to Yahoo’s commercial-free Internet radio stations, browsing and listening of friends’ Yahoo Music collections and playlist via Yahoo’s Messenger service.  Let’s not forget a discounted price of 79cents for permanent song downloads.

Yahoo Vice President David Goldberg was reported as saying:

"From premium radio to an entirely on-demand experience, Yahoo Music Unlimited has assembled all the key elements to fulfil consumers’ needs.

For a great value, users get to listen to as much music as they want, while utilizing superior innovations in playlist generation and community features to enrich and expand their music experience."

Of course this is great for the user out there who just wants to listen to music.  Subscription services are nothing new though.  However, there is also the opinion (me for one) that believes there is a slight error with subscription services when you look from the artist’s point of view.  It hasn’t been disclosed yet as to what tracks will be available for streaming – current or back catalogue – but while Yahoo Music aims to achieve it’s goal of X amount of subscribers, the artist is also losing considerable value from a standardised subscription service and flat rate fees of 79c for permanent ownership.

It has to be realised – how can you sell a 1994 back catalogue track for 79cents and also a 2005 chart topper for the same price? 

There is speculation amongst analysts as to whether Yahoo will be able to make any dosh from an annual subscription fee of $60. 

David Goldberg expressed confidence that the service will be profitable, although conceded that the company could eventually raise its fees in the future.

Yahoo Music Unlimited