Amazon Opens, Virgin Closes


Amazon's MP3 store is yet another pretender to the iTS throne, Seeking Alpha writes. But it's not a threat.

Apple recently overtook Amazon as the world's largest online music retailer. And one upstart company that started with a bang and is now ending with a whimper is closing its doors: Virgin.

As BBC News reports, Richard Branson is getting out of music retailing altogether, after 30 years in the business.

Virgin launched its Virgin Digital service 2 years ago in direct competition with Apple, even giving away flash-based MP3 players at the time. But the service will close October 19. One more victim of the iTS juggernaut.

That's not to exclude Sony, which will close its Connect music service in March next year.

When Jobs launched the iTS, he said it would be difficult for the competition to copy - or copy quickly. He was dead right on that. He continues to be right about people wanting to own, not rent, their music. And Virgin used DRM'd .wma, while Sony tried and failed with its own ATRAC.

The BBC makes the fair point that these closures will make consumers even more wary of rented music, as hard drives packed chock-full of useless files stop playing.

Will the last person to leave the Zune Store please switch off the lights?