Hoping to catch up with Apple's iPod player and iTunes music service, online retail giant Amazon.com is nearing an agreement with top music companies to launch its own digital music service, possibly by this summer, reports Reuters, citing a Thursday Wall Street Journal report. It is in talks with Vivendi Universal's Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, Warner Music Group and EMI Group. The proposed service would reportedly include an Amazon-branded portable music player.
Amazon has a better chance than most to make a dent in Apple's market share, thanks to brand name recognition, high traffic volume and the related products it sells, providing it cross-sell and upsell marketing opportunities, writes the E-Commerce Times.
U.S. consumer spending for on-demand gaming, music and video services will grow 260 percent in the next five years, according to "Digital Lifestyles: 2006 Outlook," a new study from Parks Associates; revenues will grow from $2.4 billion in 2006 to nearly $9 billion in 2010.
