Friday Open Thread > 2007: the year of online music service launches

After 2006--a year when virtually no one managed to launch a digital-music service in competition with Apple's dominant iTunes--2007 was a refreshing change of pace.

Amazon.com
After years of "will they or won't they" teasing, Amazon finally unveiled its much-anticipated digital-music service--which, as promised, features iPod-friendly, digital rights management (DRM)-free MP3s from EMI Music, Universal Music Group, and a handful of independent labels. In addition to unprotected music, it promotes a variable pricing model that sells albums for between $5 and $9. In the short time it's been active, the service is already considered the third-largest digital-retail outlet on the Web, after iTunes and eMusic--and that's without content from Sony BMG and Warner Music Group.

SpiralFrog
The poster child for the much-discussed "ad supported" business model, SpiralFrog finally went live after a lengthy delay that saw its original CEO leave the company and millions of dollars in music-licensing fees wasted while the service hovered in limbo. It works much like any other music subscription service, complete with iPod-excluding DRM technology, only it requires that users view ads at least once per month rather than ask them to pay a monthly fee. All major labels and many independents are onboard.

Slacker
Belying its name, Slacker actually worked overtime this year, with two service launches. The first, in the spring, marked the start of its free, ad-supported customizable online-radio service. It then followed up in November with phase 2: transferring that service to a portable device that uses Wi-Fi to update channels, and a subscription service tier that offers users more functionality for a monthly fee.

Imeem
Start with a service that lets users stream free music, then hope to gain as many users as possible, so that when the labels threaten to sue, you can turn it around into a licensing deal instead. That's what Imeem did. After Warner Music Group initiated legal action against the playlist streaming service, Imeem implemented filtering technology and an advertising system from Snocap to cut Warner in every time a user played one of its songs. It now counts all four major labels as partners.