Virgin plans jukebox, online music store

SAN FRANCISCO: British billionaire Richard Branson's latest company, Virgin Digital, is developing its own digital jukebox and online music store with music delivery company MusicNet that will be available by the end of August, the companies said.

Newly launched Virgin Digital, with offices in Los Angeles and London, is part of Virgin Group Ltd., which includes an airline, a record label, mobile phone service, Virgin Megastores and other assets.

Ultimately, Virgin Digital will work on mobile phones, handheld devices and other consumer electronics gear, said Zack Zalon, president of Virgin Digital. The product will include a jukebox, the ability to burn, rip and encode songs onto CDs, access to Virgin's digital music club and its Radio Free Virgin Internet radio stations,

Zalon declined to comment on pricing for the online store, which will let consumers buy songs individually or subscribe to the service.

"We're not releasing the (pricing) information but it'll be hyper competitive," Zalon said. The prevailing per-song price for legal, purchased music downloads is 99 cents.

Virgin Digital will be moving into an already crowded field, populated by Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes software and online music store, and myriad others -- from Roxio Inc.'s revived Napster service to MusicMatch.

"We're not afraid not to be first movers in this space," Zalon said. "We think that if we time it right, it will be the second movers who win.

Virgin Digital already has a leg up with the more than 100 million people who come through its Virgin Megastores annually, giving Virgin valuable market and customer preference information, Zalon said.

The Virgin Digital software product, which will be available for download through the Internet and on CD that Virgin will make available in its record stores and other avenues, will support Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Media Audio, or WMA, format, Zalon said.

WMA files work on a host of digital music players, except Apple's, which does not support WMA.

Closely held MusicNet's shareholders include Bertelsmann AG, EMI Recorded Music, a unit of EMI Group Plc, RealNetworks Inc., Sony Music Entertainment, a part of Sony Corp., and Warner Music Group, owned by investors Thomas H. Lee Partners, Edgar Bronfman Jr., Bain Capital and Providence Equity Partners.

© Reuters