• BusinessWeek, Friday, October 12, 2007 11:30 AM

Universal Music chief Doug Morris aims to join forces with other record companies to launch an industry-owned subscription service that would compete head-on with Apple's iTunes Music Store. He has already enlisted Sony BMG Music Entertainment as a potential partner, and is talking to Warner Music Group. Together, the three would control about 75% of the music sold in the U.S.

Morris and his allies hope to move digital music beyond the iPod-iTunes universe by nurturing the likes of Microsoft's Zune and Sony's PlayStation and by working with the wireless carriers. The service, which is one of several initiatives the music majors are considering to help reverse sliding sales, will be called Total Music.

Insiders say Morris & Co. has an intriguing business model: get hardware makers or cell carriers to absorb the cost of a roughly $5-per-month subscription fee so consumers get a device with all-you-can-eat music that's essentially free. Morris recently refused to re-sign a multi-year contract to put his company's music on iTunes.

Read the whole story at BusinessWeek »