Popular music recommendation service iLike launched a music download service this afternoon, offering users MP3 downloads for $0.89 to $1.29 per song. Previously the service only offered users the ability to sample 30 second clips of songs, or restricted full streaming via a partnership with Rhapsody (now phased out).
iLike says the first song purchased today was Get Away, Jordan by Ernie Haase & Signature Sound. Music is available from all four major labels and “hundreds of indie labels, enabled via MediaNet.”
Rumors of the music store were first reported by CNET’s Greg Sandoval last month. Until now iLike has offered downloads from Amazon and iTunes. Those options remain.
The service is rolling out now on iLike (I was able to purchase a song), and should be available to all U.S. users by end of day, says iLike. iLike applications on iGoogle, Facebook, Bebo and other platforms will also be available “soon” says the company for U.S. users.
In an email exchange, iLike CEO Ali Partovi said:
We’re enabling the millions of music fans who discover and share music on iLike to purchase songs in-page directly from iLike. Our solution provides a smooth, immediate in-page purchase experience. You can sign up, enter your credit card, and download the music you just bought — all without ever leaving the web page you were on when you discovered the song.
We’re making it easier and more immediate for music fans to buy MP3s as an online on-Web activity. iTunes already provides a great music buying experience inside a media player, and we’ll continue offering our users the option to jump off iLike to purchase from iTunes. At the same time, we’re filling a void by providing a faster way to make impulse music purchases on the web. Our social features and integration into all the major social networks will create a unique music discovery and purchasing experience for music fans across the Web.
The iLike in-page download solution was achieved via direct deals with major labels and a relationship with MediaNet to support the back end fulfillment and provide indie label catalogs. PayPal is providing billing support.
Going forward we’ll continue to enhance our download service, which is currently in Beta, as well as making it available on other leading third party websites where iLike is embedded. Our goal over time is to offer music fans the ability to impulse buy in-page from wherever they are.
In other recent news about iLike, the company is rumored to be raising new capital in an unusual transaction designed to push out Ticketmaster, an investor since 2006.
Images from the purchase flow are below:
iLike + music downloads = awesome
I guess…. Most of the time I am streaming music these days. However I often hear a song being streamed and I want to buy it. Not sure how any service will stay alive without a mix of services.
What would be really cool is some sort of sub-license affiliate program. Where some developer can lease a license (pas-as-you-go) to sell MP3’s and Streaming Audio. I could build some cool mashup with my domain http://www.thesound.com (bus partner owns it actually).
Yeah, yeah thats the ticket
Hey……….
On second thought. If anyone can help me to put such a deal together for streaming music on demand (choose what you want to hear) and ability to buy any song for a fee as a mp3 download. I will put $100k towards development fee for a 50/50 JV. We can make some sort of super hybrid social site with http://www.thesound.com as the brand name/domain. I have not used this domain since 1995 when I failed to do something similar with Shockwave v1.0
okay now off to see District-9
yeah, i just still like having my own copy for my phone, and in case all these awesome free streaming services die out.
true…i was giving my wife a massage and we wanted some tunes and there was no net connection! Luckily I had copied 10+ gigs of mp3’s to my phone the day before.
I like how the email is honest about the company’s aims and acknowledges all partners involved including iTunes.
so they plan on integrating into the next version of itunes yet they plan on simultaneously being an active competitor to iTunes? this will not end will for them.
Uhm no. $5 per month for unlimited downloads + eventual extra bandwidth fee after certain GB/month limit, that would be ok.
There are a few services doing this now. I have not really found any with a good GUI. Seems like some serious thought and revamping needs to be done to get the perfect GUI. I notice when I make blueprints for a project the more I tinker in Photoshop the cooler and more refined it becomes.
BTW- Napster is trying this for starters…maybe someone here can list the sites that do a monthly subscription for streaming music with the ability to choose the songs you want. (Pandora does not allow this feature).
Interesting. I think ilike has some good stuff going; I like how they enable webmasters to embed songs and playlists, for instance.
However, the MP3 market seems to be becoming increasingly commoditized. Why would I purchase an MP3 on ilike vs. Amazon vs. lala vs. Napster vs. Rhapsody vs. … well, you get the picture. Perhaps the goal is to sell to an existing community / rabidly loyal userbase, but — though perhaps I’m just not clued in with this — I’m not familiar with much of an ilike community (certainly not to the degree of, say, Pandora, or last.fm, etc.).
Furthering my luke-warm’ness is the fact that — at least from your screenshot — it wasn’t apparent what form/level the MP3s were encoded at. 256VBR? 320CBR? Hmm.
Still, though, it is a bit satisfying to see so much un-DRM’d music being legally offered nowadays. ’tis only a pity that this openness didn’t come earlier!
Trying to create a larger margin to shop for more money to buy out Ticketmaster while not losing value would be an interesting spreadsheet to see. I just can’t see how they are going to make the next raise an upround based on a beeter margin in downloads.
This is somewhat great news for iLike, though I’m curious as to what they are doing about full-length streaming, and if that will remain a rhapsody service.
I’m not actually an ilike user, but didn’t they use to have full-length tracks? i just clicked on a track and only got a sample.
Well, this is good news.
But what happened to all the snark about how it’s impossible to stop Free and people will just copy all the music? And if it’s ok to buy tunes — which I surely think it is! — then why isn’t it ok to buy news then?
why can’t we have paid content?
That type of talk only happens when your business wasn’t built by one of the fraternity
This company is engaged in completely illegal practices and does not honor its contracts with users.
Also, they are worldclass spammers. Any of my comments can be backed up with a quick google search.
It does seem though – no BUYERS for iLike with their basic service. And downloads are a difficult business at best – so remains to be seen how they make it a viable business in the long haul – and compete with iTunes and Amazon.
I wish them well – they have been hanging in there and making gentle strides for a long time.
It will be interesting to see how this does in the current economic climate. I can see how people with money would like the service, but most people barely have enough to cover their bills not to mention music.
http://ffwtech.com
I really miss the ole days of Napster… y’know, when it use to be illegal. Jesh, such a long time ago now. 0___o
a pretty lame download experience, emusic, amazon and lala all download direclty to itunes
Another company trying to carve out a small slice of a shrinking pie.
If the slice is big enough = very small win for iLike (at least it will keep the doors open for them a little longer, but won’t attract any buyers unless it goes gangbusters).
For consumers = Yawn (nothing they can’t get anywhere else at the same prices, and nothing groundbreaking about this).
Not sure why Arrington is so ga-ga over this development. Ho-Hum they are reselling tracks from MediaNet – like hundreds of other companies.
This is not so much good news. There’s nothing new about this. Just another service that seeks to grab a piece of iTunes pie, instead of being innovative.
Is it just me or is there no more full-length streaming now?
Hi ! why pay US$ 10 instead to pay 10 times less ? The better quality the same artists. To being innovative ? MP3 Download Service prices have reached a fair value.