The BPI have given formal approval to Dotmusic's decision to make unlimited downloads available to its subscribers.
Dotmusic – formerly Music Week's consumer targeted online magazine, now part of BT's broadband package – offers consumers the chance to download tracks from a library of 150,000 songs in return for a monthly subscription fee. The service is supplied by OD2, the company behind digital download day, who have arrangements with most of the majors and a string of independents. Dotmusic, like other legit download sites, limited the number of tracks that could be downloaded each month – but as of this week subscribers can download as many tracks as they want.
BPI are keen to see the growth of legit download sites, which are a key part of the battle against the Napster clones like Kazaa. Peter Jamieson, executive chairman at the BPI told reporters yesterday: "Dotmusic on demand is a trailblazer in the market, which I believe gives cause for new optimism for the music industry. Providing legitimate services to enable consumers to download their favourite music is pivotal to the future strategies of all music companies represented by the BPI."
Ben Drury, head of music at BT, added: "Over the last two years since we first started looking at a mass market online music service, things have come a long way but an unlimited package has always been the holy grail. We’ve worked very hard to get to this point where we can offer a truly compelling legal service and are very proud to be the first to do so."