“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,” Tony Smith reports for The Register.
“After that, their songs will no longer be playable, thanks to the limitations placed on playback by the DRM technology built into each track,” Smith reports.
“Virgin announced the move this weekend in an email sent out to all its customers… The service will formally close on Friday, 28 September – coincidentally the day Apple’s new iPod Touch is due to arrive in the UK – and finally shut down on Friday, 19 October,” Smith reports. “Virgin have no reason for the shut-down, simply offering its ‘apologies for any inconvenience this might cause'”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Dirty Pierre le Punk” for the heads up.]
To paraphrase and backwardize Dr. Seuss: Don’t smile because it’s over. Cry because it happened.
That’s going to be an inconvenience for the guy who is now going to have to get his music elsewhere.
b-b-b-but subscribing to music is soooo much better! W-w-w-w-w-what do the subscribers have to show for all the money they spent now? AAAAAAaaargh how I hate Apple!!!!!
Tens to hundreds of dollars on music, and nothing (legal) to show for it.
I wouldn’t even trust all my music to Apple, and that’s probably why Apple doesn’t offer subscriptions on iTunes.
Anybody dumb enough to rent music is asking to have their head handed to them at some point.
John Gee, do you honestly think that Apple would rent music when doing the opposite is what makes the ITMS successful? Seriously?
hahahaha the high price of subscription. yet another example for Apple to keep its head high up for not allowing such a feature with iTunes. Now where was that link with that record producer who forecasted that the future of music is ONLY subscription based models?….i hope he didnt buy songs from the Virgin store coz he will now have to bend over and take it…..
Business models that fly in the face of consumer demands are destined to fail.
BustingTheSkullsOfIdiots is right. Gay people love music so he ought to know. No subscriptions ITMS—ever!
ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha hahhhhhaaaaaaaaaaa
From the full article: “US subscribers, meanwhile, are being punted toward Napster, which is now honouring Virgin Digital pre-pay cards and vouchers.”
What? Napster still exists? Looks like they just go themselves 10 more customers.
What you MAC lemmings can’t get through your smug heads is that subscription services give you loads of fantastic content at a low, monthly price. What could be better? Why do you want to own only a few songs when you can have access to zillions?
More is always better, like computer market share. Windows is better than MACs and there’s a hell of a lot more out there. It really isn’t that hard to figure out. Dorks.
Your potential. Our passion.™
Still love the Zune Tang comments. 😀
keep it up! You always brighten my day. 8)
Zune Thingie:
Your Frustration. Our fault!
I’m not trying to defend the subscription model, but I’m not sure it’s the subscription that’s killing these services. I think it’s the ease of use. What makes iTunes successful is how well designed it is and it’s integration with iPods. Push a button and bam, music on your computer, your iPod and your TV if you have Apple TV. Every other service requires you to jump through hoops.
I too believe that subscriptions is (for most customers) a flawed business model. Would never consider it myself, I want ownership. And yes, for me that means cloning a ringtone from it should be without extra cost, fcuk big commercial interests and petty legalities (even Apple’s) for paying again for what essentially should be already yours.
I do believe that there is a niche market for subscriptions, albeit quite small. Maybe it could be introduced to iTunes if all subscription competitors have gone.Probably will never happen.
But if Apple were ever to introduce it in addition to the current models, it would be great fun to see how MDN and a some of the posters here will suddenly turn / change / adapt / whatever to the new “insight”.
Welll, that’s what “rent” is about. Once the contract terminates, there is nothing left. Nothing really to complain about – it was well known when the service started, but I doubt that many people realized it.
Fsck Virgin…..
@Zune Tang
Yawn, yawn, double-yawn, can’t-get-enough-oxygen-in-the-vacuum-of your-intellect yawn.
Well if even a brand like “Virgin” can shut down… who is EVER going to trust the rental model again? Users are going to be paranoid about paying rental one month and losing all their songs the next month.
The sad thing is, everyone is going to accuse Apple of being a monopolist… especially the Europeans.
I really do hope Napster will live on, only so that we can point out that Apple does have competition, and the legislators won’t accuse Apple of being a so-called monopolist.
LOL,
MDN has already been quite clear:
MacDailyNews Take (April 26, 2007):Business models that fly in the face of human nature are doomed to failure.
Human beings like to listen to favorite songs over and over. They like to own these songs, so that they can play them over and over. They do not want to pay someone an unending monthly rate in order to be allowed to hear their favorite songs…
Now, for the limited amount of people for which a music subscription service would be welcome, we say, by all means, Apple should offer it – if it makes business sense (i.e. development and operational costs are less than profit potential).
Regardless of what happens, the fact remains: The labels want subscriptions to succeed because they dream of a recurring revenue stream, not because music consumers desire such a service. We can almost hear the greedy bastards in their music cartel boardrooms, “If only we could get them on subscription plans, if only we could get them on subscription plans…” Dreams of easy cash do not a successful business model make.
One more time: Business models that fly in the face of human nature are doomed to failure.
Now, for TV shows and movies, a subscription service makes perfect sense because it better fits the way people consume those types of content than does outright purchasing. Not to mention, where do you store all of that content that you own, but are only going to watch once or twice? Most people can count that number of movies they’ve watched three or more times on their fingers.
We want to buy our music and subscribe to a TV shows and movies plan via Apple’s iTunes Store.
http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/13418/
Subscription model stinks! The average person may actually rotate between 10 – 100 songs per week before the list changes and its only a couple of songs. Meanwhile, your favorite subscription service (or what’s left of them) is counting the cash they’re making off of you throughout the months! You want that much variety in your music, try streaming internet radio like Pandora or Live365.
Overall, it’s much more cost effective to just buy the CDs in the brick and mortar stores. Not only can you rip a higher quality file but it costs less per song and you can store the CD away knowing you have your backup ready in case your digital music collection gets destroyed.
Time for the record execs to learn the lyrics to this song…
Ding Dong! The Witch is dead. Which old Witch? The Wicked Witch!
Ding Dong! The Wicked Witch is dead.
Wake up – sleepy head, rub your eyes, get out of bed.
Wake up, the Wicked Witch is dead. She’s gone where the goblins go,
Below – below – below. Yo-ho, let’s open up and sing and ring the bells out.
Ding Dong’ the merry-oh, sing it high, sing it low.
Let them know
The Wicked Witch is dead!
Oops, do I owe someone a rental fee for posting this online? Or would that fee be covered by my Virgin subscription?
The only way I ever see subscriptions working is if they’re less than $5 per month. Then maybe, kinda, sorta, perhaps they might work. Thomas hits it dead on. Once a rental contract expires, you got jack-squat.
Good riddance Virgin.
I feel no pity for these wannabes that just schlep the MS crap. At least Sony tried to do something different, absurd though it was.
eMusic is the only subscription service i have used, because it’s subscribe to own, not rent, and they avoided drm.
How about this quote from an article from TechCrunch, April 11, 2006…
“Overall, the best service based on pure stats is Virgin Digital, which boasts the largest catalog of music (2 million songs) and the best overall price at $8/month. Unlike all of the other services, Virgin charges one price for both the PC and to go versions. Virgin also has excellent additional features like user reviews of music create a social atmosphere.”
Pretty sobering for all those subscription fanboys out there if the “best” service goes belly up…
For all those who push the subscription model, this reaffirms why this model is flawed.
It really depends on the service surviving beyond a few years and that even if they do the service doesn’t change its terms dramatically ( such as raising its fees 200%, limiting how many songs you can listen to before upgrading to another level, etc.).
Many people who push for suibscriptin in music take it for granted that what is now will always be the same.
Its a really short-term focus.
Now for TV/Movies – if a company changed their terms it would be no problem (limited problem) to just walk away, but for music which you develop an attachment and spent time to create and develop – you’re really screwed and will have to start all over if you want to leave.
Think of the long-term to all those who push subscription for music – don’t do it if you love YOUR music!