new and improved business model: asking customers to pay for more than one service. For the moment, with about half the world's recordings on Pressplay and the other half on MusicNet, that is exactly the situation. The executives in charge of these services seem aware of the problem, though little progress has been made to cross-license between the two services. "We are having discussions with the other majors," says Andy Schuon, CEO of Pressplay. "We are going out with a massive catalog and a great deal of independents."
In the end, it seems, subscriptions - like downloads before them - are an experiment in an emerging market. "With every failure we learn what customers don't want," Samit says. The labels appear to be headed for yet another learning experience.
