Monday, June 14, 2004
Music Stores Rethink Download Strategy
Posted by Kent Pribbernow in "NEWS" @ 04:00 PM
"Echo, a joint effort launched with a splash of publicity in early 2003, was supposed to give the big brick-and-mortar retailers such as Best Buy and Virgin Megastores an online foothold that would help them beat back file-swapping services and digital stores.
But mounting development costs, a glut of rivals offering bargain-rate services, and smaller-than-hoped-for sales across the online-music spectrum, even at Apple's successful store, have led the big retailers to pull funding for the project, its founders say."
Perhaps the online music download market isn't as lucrative as it appears. What could this mean for Apple...or Microsoft for that matter?
But mounting development costs, a glut of rivals offering bargain-rate services, and smaller-than-hoped-for sales across the online-music spectrum, even at Apple's successful store, have led the big retailers to pull funding for the project, its founders say."
Perhaps the online music download market isn't as lucrative as it appears. What could this mean for Apple...or Microsoft for that matter?
