As the major record labels try to remake online music in their own image, Microsoft's presence is looming powerfully enough to influence the biggest alliances in the business--even if the software giant hasn't struck the big deals itself.
Pressplay and MusicNet subscription services will make songs legally available online, but people using iPod, iPaq and other new devices still won't be able to listen to them.
Napster may have been defanged, but other rogue peer-to-peer music services still exist. Even if the music industry were to crush these services too, millions of music fans won't forget the Napster experience.
Web portal Yahoo is planning to launch its own online music service later this year, despite its US$160 million purchase of Musicmatch announced this week, according to music industry sources.
The US Justice Department has opened an antitrust investigation of the online-music business, focusing on two new joint ventures backed by five major record labels.
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