A US company called MusicGiants is planning a new download service which will appeal to those who like their music to be of a high audio quality.
We've reported before on how few players in the digital music space have talked about the quality of the sound they produce, and on how few music fans seem to care. But MusicGiants plan to make music available using Microsoft's "lossless" WMA format which, they say, provides seven times better sound quality. Of course users will need to have a decent soundcard in their PC and good speakers plugged in it to benefit - but the company seems to be going for the niche but cash-rich audience who will probably be willing to invest in that kit in order to get a boost in audio quality.
They will need to be cash rich because tracks sold via MusicGiants will be sold for $1.29 each rather than 99 cents, and they will have to pay $50 to download the player needed to play the music (though they will get a $50 credit for music downloads as soon as they do).
No word yet on the service's launch plans or on whether they plan to go global - although they say they have already entered licencing deals with all of the major record companies.