When will music subscriptions take off?
During testing Virgin Digital, and since we launched the new site, I've had the player on pretty much constantly; a subscription service is a bit like a dishwasher or air-con in a car - once you get used to it there's no going back.
The subscription concept hasn't really caught on yet, although Napster recently reported some more encouraging numbers. I think that the tipping point will come when all-you-can-eat subscription services start to be bundled with other services such as broadband, mobile or TV packages. If you can add a music package to your monthly bill from Sky, BT or Virgin Media for a few pounds, that sounds like an attractive proposition.
The last piece of that jigsaw is user-friendly home networking capability. While there are plenty of ways to hook up a PC to home speakers or a TV, either they aren't that easy to use or they aren't being marketed too well to potential users. Microsoft is really pushing this as a benefit of Vista (integrated with Xbox 360) and Apple is also active - expect some significant moves forward in 2007.
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