October 29, 2009

By By Richard Smirke, London

U.K. entertainment and media portal Tiscali.co.uk, part of the TalkTalk Group, is to launch a DRM-free download-to-own subscription service in partnership with digital retailer eMusic.

Entitled Music For Life, the service launched in the United Kingdom today (Oct. 29) following a soft launch last week and follows the eMusic model whereby U.K. customers can purchase a number of DRM-free downloads at four subscription price points.

The cheapest, eMusic Basic costs ?9.99 ($16.55) a month and allows users to download 24 DRM-free MP3s from its catalog of 6.5 million songs -- the equivalent of ?0.42 ($0.69) per song. The most expensive, eMusic Connoisseur costs ?24.99 ($41.40) per month for a monthly allowance of 75 downloads; ?0.33 per song ($0.55).

Neal McCleave, TalkTalk Group senior director of online said in a statement: "We are always looking for ways to enhance our portal and offer the best services to our 6m users."

"The Music For life service will be a great boost to our entertainment content and offers a huge range of tracks at very competitive prices," he continued.

TalkTalk launched in February 2003 and is the biggest provider of broadband in Britain with over 4 million customers. Tiscali -- TalkTalk's media portal -- was acquired by the company in July 2009. The site receives over 6 million unique visitors per month, according to Talk Talk figures.

To coincide with the launch of Music For Life, Tiscali.co.uk will be giving U.K. users 50 free tracks when they sign up for a 14-day free trial.

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