14 DAY TRIAL // After the launch of Yahoo Music Unlimited it is clear that Yahoo is very determined to overtake the digital music market.
With prices like $6.99 per month or $60 for an annual subscription, with a catalog of 1 million songs, it is clear that Yahoo is not joking with its entrance on the music market.
Even more, Yahoo has combined his new music store with some other facilities like music search and integration with Yahoo Messenger.
Because Yahoo Music Unlimited is a subscription service, the main competitors are Napster and RealNetworks, both of them affected by the new-comer in the downloading business.
Shares of Napster sank about 27%, while Real Network closed the day with a drop of only 21%.
Even the almighty Apple, which currently dominates the music download market with iTunes has suffered because of Yahoo Music Unlimited, and its shares dropped 3.7%. Yahoo share were up almost 2% to $34.70.
Many analysts are predicting hard times for Apple, but Napster and RealNetwork should be really afraid, because they need to cut the prices or to offer something more for their subscriptions. Their only chance is that as analysts expect Yahoo is going to raise the introductory price of its subscription service - something that might alienate subscribers if it happens.
Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris refused to comment on how Yahoo's service might affect iTunes.
Yahoo! Music Unlimited uses Microsoft's Windows Media Digital Rights Management technology to enable subscribers to download and listen to as many copyright protected songs as they wish.
This includes transferring the WMA music files to compatible MP3 players. Like other services such as Napster To Go; however, if one stops paying the monthly fee, all the downloaded music becomes locked, preventing listening.