By Michael Liedtke
Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO -- Internet powerhouse Yahoo Inc. is introducing an online music subscription service that will enable consumers to download thousands of songs onto their portable MP3 players for $60 annually, undercutting the prices of the current industry leaders by more than 60 percent.
The Sunnyvale-based company planned to unveil "Yahoo Music Unlimited" today in a direct challenge to similar subscription services offered by Real Networks Inc. and Napster Inc.
Yahoo is offering unlimited downloads from a library of 1 million songs for $6.99 per month or $60 for an annual subscription. That's a sharp discount from Los Angeles-based Napster and Seattle-based Real Networks Inc., which both charge $14.95 per month, or just under $180 annually, for similar services.
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By encouraging consumers to become song renters instead of song owners, Yahoo, Napster and Real Networks are pursuing a different 1/2ales approach from Apple Computer Inc.'s popular iTunes music store.
Under the rental model, consumers must pay a recurring fee and synchronize their portable music players with the subscription service at least once a month to preserve the music. If the subscription expires, the previously downloaded music becomes unplayable.
Renters also can't transfer downloaded songs to a compact disc without paying an additional fee. Yahoo will charge its subscribers 79 cents to own a song, below the 99 cents-per-song price of Apple's music store.
