Yahoo Matches With MusicMatch
from the expanding-the-music-subscription-game dept
Yahoo continues its buying streak, with the latest deal showing that Terry Semel hasn't forgotten his entertainment roots. The company is shelling out $160 million for MusicMatch, a popular player in the digital music space that hasn't done quite as well lately. For a while, MusicMatch was one of the most popular client applications on Windows machines for managing MP3 collections. More recently they offered a subscription service that won strong reviews. A few years ago, MusicMatch provided the only client side app on Windows machines that would work with the iPod, but once iTunes for Windows was written, Apple shoved MusicMatch aside, making them something of a has-been in the space. The deal with Yahoo is less about their client software than the number of subscribers they bring -- which basically doubles the number of subscribers to Yahoo's Launch music subscription service. Of course, given some of Yahoo's track record with acquisitions lately, they'll simply swallow this one up, rather than using it as a way to really jump ahead of the competition with a more advanced service.
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Rebranding, Launch, MusicMatch = iPod/iTunes?
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