How iTunes Subscriptions Could Succeed

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And it doesn't even have to be connected to the music stored on your computer's hard drive. Why not give the device its own hard drive? Why not embed iTunes software, including direct access to the iTunes store, directly on the player? Consumers could download music from the iTunes store directly to this device, which would sync readily with the iPod or iPhone just as a computer does today. Imagine the potential among consumers who have so far bypassed the entire iTunes/iPod experience entirely?

This device would also support a new iTunes subscription option. As long as you keep your subscription paid up, you'd have access to the full catalog of whatever record labels sign on. New releases would be available to everyone who owns this device. The device would grab the latest releases of your favorite artists, according to preferences you set so that you can hear them the day they hit the street. And if it turns out to be lousy? No problem. Delete it from your playlist without a second thought. You could always go back and check it out again. And if after a few months you decide don't want to pay the monthly fee? No problem. Since it's optional, you can just cancel it and continue downloading music à la carte at 99¢ a track like always.

Expect New Ways to Deliver Music

Impressive as the statistics on iTunes song sales may be—Apple has sold some 4 billion songs in the five years the store has been in operation—they work out to fewer than 30 songs per iPod and iPhone. They're also irregular. A label may have a huge hit on iTunes one quarter, and then nothing the next. Then there's fickle consumer habits. If you're like me, you buy music in blocks. I'll spend about $50 on a bunch of classical and jazz albums on iTunes, and they'll keep me busy for a month or two before I'm ready to head back to buy another batch. But then again, I may not visit the iTunes store again for the better part of a year.

The digital music business is here with us for good, and that means over time there's going to be more than one way to deliver music, and definitely more than one way to play it. As the industry's all-but-undisputed leader, Apple should be thinking beyond the iPod and the iPhone. Who could do it better?

Hesseldahl is a reporter for BusinessWeek.com.