Music world embracing unlimited downloads

After years of futile efforts to stop digital pirates from copying its music, the music business has started to copy the pirates. The IHT reports.

Online and mobile services offering listeners unlimited, "free" access to millions of songs are set to proliferate in the coming months, according to executives of the recording companies, Internet service providers and cellphone makers who gathered in Cannes for the MIDEM music conference over the weekend.

Unlike illegal file-sharing services, which the music industry says are responsible for billions of dollars in lost sales, these new offerings are perfectly legal. The services are not really free, but payment is included in the cost of, say, a new cellphone or a broadband Internet access contract, so the cost to the consumer is disguised. And, unlike pirate sites, these services provide revenue to the music companies.

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emily | 9:49 AM | News, Buzz |
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