Embracing the future
We might not make anything or even move money around very effectively anymore, but one industry that seems to be thriving in the UK is digital music provision.
Last year we spoke to 7digital and heard about its rapid growth. Today UK digital music service provider Omnifone has announced that its MusicStation unlimited music service will be preinstalled on new HP Pavilion, Presario and Envy PCs across ten European countries - including the UK - in a move that acknowledges new realities for the music business.
Omnifone distinguishes itself from 7digital by putting more of an emphasis on subscription-based, unlimited download services, where 7digital is stronger in ‘a la carte' pay-per-track services. Omnifone was the first company to agree unlimited licensing deals with the ‘big four' music companies: Universal, Sony, EMI and Warner.
"Starting today, HP PC users in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands, Austria, Belgium and Switzerland can try MusicStation for free for up to 14 days, get access to millions of tracks, keep their favourite tracks permanently and share music and playlists with other MusicStation users," said Charl Snyman, EMEA VP of HP's personal systems group.
The deal is: a 14 day free subscription, after which it will cost you £8.99 per month. While the streaming service is unlimited, you only get to keep the MP3 files of ten tracks per month. Here's the full list of HP PCs that will offer MusicStation: Compaq Presario CQ61, CQ71, HP G61, G62, G72, HP Pavilion dm3, dv3, dv6, dv7, dv8, HP Envy 13, HP Envy 15, Presario CQ53, Pavilion HPE-1, p63, s53.