Virgin Digital, part of the Virgin Group, launched an online music
service on Monday. They hope to make it as successful as their offline
chain of retail music stores.

“The company is jumping into the market with a full-featured music jukebox
written from scratch, in which it is offering a music download store and
music subscription service powered by wholesaler MusicNet.

“With an entry 18 months after Apple Computer first launched its iTunes song
store, Virgin is starting well behind its biggest rivals. But the company
says it can use the powerful Virgin Megastore brand - and the access to the
millions of customers who shop at the stores every year - as a way to reach
out to mainstream consumers more effectively than competitors can.

“With the move, Virgin becomes the first major offline music retailer to
enter the market now dominated by software, hardware and consumer
electronics businesses. As such, it could help test the viability of the
bridge - if there is one - between the old offline world of music selling and
the new digital medium. […]”