Labels Team Up to Bruise iTunes

Universal Music is acting on industry-wide anger toward iTunes’ policies, teaming with Sony and potentially Warner on a new subscription service that could make music essentially free. Still a prototype, Total Music would charge makers of music players $5 a month, PC World reports; they would then offer unlimited downloads with purchase of products like Microsoft's Zune.

The labels' iTunes laments start with the single price for all songs; they’d rather the store charge differently for old and new music. The CEO of Universal parent Vivendi also recently called Apple’s share of iTunes revenues “indecent," and the record company, which releases one of every three songs in the US, opted in July not to renew its contract with the store. (More iTunes stories.)