Vodafone signs Omnifone's MusicStation service for UK

So Vodafone made another little announcement during the unveiling of their iPhone-less Christmas lineup: an exclusive Omnifone music service deal for our more cultured, special British friends. The all-you-can-eat, MusicStation subscription download service will cost punters a weekly tithe of £1.99 (about $4.03) -- an investment which turns to dust once you cancel the subscription. Seems Vodafone, an early favorite for a pan-European iPhone exclusive, is now preparing to compete against a rival European iPhone launch with iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store in addition to Nokia's imminent Music Store. Good luck Voda-Omni-fone, you'll need it.

[enemes @ Sep 11th 2007 10:18AM]

and what about the music you buy from iTunes in case you decide to switch platform? Please, don't unfairly judge subscription model. If Apple doesn't support it, it doesn't mean it's bad.

[Jaunty @ Sep 11th 2007 10:27AM]

You've burnt it all to cds as a back up and do whatever you want with it.

[enemes @ Sep 11th 2007 10:49AM]

@Jaunty
> You've burnt it all to cds as a back up and do whatever you want with it.

yeah, and already crappy quality tracks are even worse quality? No thanks. BTW, you can do the same with subscription based tracks. But it's all the same issue.

[Thomas Ricker @ Sep 11th 2007 11:44AM]

@enemes,

This has nothing to do with supporting Apple vs. others. It's about purchase-to-own vs. subscription (aka, rental).

You can purchase higher-quality, DRM-free tracks from several on-line retailers now, including Apple.

However, If you go FairPlay DRM and switch to a non-iPod player there are still tools to strip the DRM including the ol' CD trick as pointed out by Jaunty. That's FairUse. There are also tools to strip the DRM from subscription "purchases." However, if you do that, you are stealing since you never actually own the content under the terms of a subscription model.

Thomas

[Hamish @ Sep 11th 2007 11:31AM]

Vodafone don't really need any luck - they're by far the biggest of the operators over here. They charge an absolute fortune compared to other networks, but they have the best mobile coverage, including the best 3G coverage. So, in my opinion, I think Apple actually should have pushed for Vodafone. Also, I don't know about the US, but over here the average guy doesn't have a mobile contract - so I'm not convinced of the iPhone's success in Europe.

[Emilio @ Sep 11th 2007 11:47AM]

omg that phone had to be the one advertised that was stolen off me yesterday :-(