As an old rocker, JOHN HARRIS hears that Apple may be about to launch an iTunes subscription service, giving even more impetus to the online music phenomenon.

For most of this decade, the music industry has struggled to come to terms with the online economy.

As many record companies resisted moving from physical format media to online music sales, their customers voted with their fingers.

At the start of the noughties, pirate file-sharing service Napster led the way by allowing members to share music files with each other.

As well as many current popular songs, it unlocked a vast back catalogue of obscure or hard to access recordings, known as the "long tail" in online marketing jargon.

After Napster was shut down, I used the Kazaa file-sharing service (until it met the same fate) to download hundreds of songs from emerging artists and old favourites performing tunes I hadn't heard before.

Ironically, rather than discouraging me from buying music at CD stores, it actually got me back in the habit of buying new music. The itch Kazaa scratched was allowing me to taste test new music and performers without having to part with $30 for the experience.

This experimentation was a role played by radio in my youth, but today's "greatest hits" formats only thrash known songs rather than unlocking new gems or forgotten treasures.

Now copyright cops have outlawed informal music file-sharing, I listen a lot to Internet radio to get my fix of new sounds.

While some online stations run fairly high repeat ratios, there is such a plethora of choice that I can switch between stations to ensure my ears are fed with a stream of interesting music.

If I like a singer or band, I'll go out to track it down at a music shop on the Parade.

However, in the next few months, another option for experimenting with new music may appear.

Although Apple has pioneered online music sales due to the huge sales of its iPod music players, the company has stuck to a traditional sales model.

Apple's iTunes store http://www.apple.com/au/itunes/store/ allows you to download everything from songs and music albums to TV shows, movies and audio books for a per-item price.

Its AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) music files cost from $1.69 (inc GST) per song to $16.99 per album. The iTunes licence permits you to burn purchased music to an unlimited number of CDs for personal use, listen to it on iPod players (and iPhones) and play it on up to five computers.

To date, Apple has resisted offering a subscription service, an all-you-can-hear model that allows customers to download and play any song as long as they maintain a current monthly subscription.

The reconstituted Napster offers the best known subscription service costing from US$12.95 a month. The subscription model is popular with consumers more interested in current Top 40 songs rather than accumulating a back catalogue of music.

However, rumours doing the rounds suggest Apple will announce a iTunes subscription model next month. Dubbed iTunes Unlimited, this service will reportedly run alongside Apple's existing sales system, so you can keep on buying songs if you prefer.

MacDailyNews has cited an anonymous "tipster" who claims iTunes Unlimited will go live in late October. Sadly, it's a US-only launch, but, if it's successful, it's bound to turn up in Australia.

This is exciting news because Apple's iPod dominance would give real momentum to the subscription model.

That's music to the ears for anyone who likes to hear new sounds without spending a fortune.

John Harris is managing director of Impress Media Australia. View his website at www.johnharris.net.au.

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