LONDON, March 8 (UPI) -- Britain's Virgin Group Ltd. is the most recent corporate giant to get into the online music business, using its chain of Virgin Megastores as a retail base.
Virgin Digital, the new division, will sell on-demand music and music videos through kiosks at its retail stores, and through mobile phones that double as portable music players, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
Virgin Digital, which is unrelated to EMI Group's Virgin Records, is expected to start this summer with 700,000 songs, and a wider selection of jazz, blues, classical and rock music than other services, said Zack Zalon, who is heading up the service.
The service will allow consumers to buy music on a per-song or per-album basis, or for a monthly subscription fee that allows unlimited streamed music.
Zalon did not say what the service will cost, but comparable online music services average $1 per song or $10 per month for a subscription for unlimited streaming.
