Despite industry backing for several subscription-based online music services, such as Rhapsody, pressplay and MusicNet, response has been tepid.

ECONOMIST: How to pay the piper

If everything goes to plan, MusicNet could allow the music industry to move forward at last, says Eric Scheirer of Forrester Research.

ECONOMIST: Digital copyright

Might all this change with the MusicNet initiative announced this week?

ECONOMIST: Digital copyright

As with every other market on the Net, this one will consolidate in the end, and the likely winners will be Pressplay and MusicNet, which have the major record companies' support.

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But even so, the companies behind MusicNet are wary.

BBC: Victory for music giants?

There were five major record labels at the time and they invested in MusicNet as a service provider and Pressplay as a consumer product to offer legal paths to consume digital music.

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