Recently, LimeWire announced its plans to start a DRM-free legal music store, despite being vigorously pursued by the RIAA, which has a good track record of shutting down peer-to peer providers for copyright infringement.
LimeWire believes a significant number of users will choose to purchase content if the presentation is convenient and unobtrusive, the price is right, and the product isn't hindered by DRM. The company didn't give any pricing information or a date for launch at the time of the announcement, but according to DailyTech, Limewire has finally spilled the beans on the pricing schemes for both individual tracks and monthly subscriptions.
[LimeWire will] launch the new music store by the end of November, 2007. Songs will be available a la cart at a price of $0.99 each and tiers will be available for monthly subscription plans. The first monthly plan tier will allow 25 songs to be downloaded for $9.99; the second tier allows 50 downloads per month for $14.99, and the third tier allows 75 downloads per month for $19.99.
Although the $0.99 per song pricing scheme is unlikely to make the slightest dent to top players like iTunes, their monthly subscription plans actually appear to be a decent deal, with songs selling for as low as $0.26 on the 75 downloads per month plan. But of course, unless LimeWire manages to get media companies to sign on, its music service will hardly get any traction.