HP MusicStation Takes on iTunes & Spotify

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Working in collaboration with the British firm Omnifone, HP has vowed to take on the mighty iTunes with a new digital music service that will see HP working with Omnifone – a key partner of EMI Music – much in the same way as they do with the RealNetworks Rhapsody service in the US whereby the new service, known as MusicStation, will be pre-loaded on a selected range of HP PCs and laptops prior to shipping in the Euro zone.

“As the world’s biggest PC vendor, HP has huge opportunity to create a viable competitor to iTunes due to its scale,” said Rob Lewis, chief executive of Omnifone, who announced the new digital music service which will target HP customers in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium and Austria.

Unlike iTunes, the HP MusicStation service will not be based on a pay per download model but will be a subscription based service that will see users paying out some 10 EUR (circa $14) per month in return for which they’ll gain access to the entire MusicStation catalogue with no restrictions on the number of tracks the user can download to listen to on their PC – unlike Spotify HP’s MusicStation service will not be wholly streaming based. That said, if you’re looking to transfer tracks to, say, a portable music player we should advise that you’ll find yourself restricted to transferring just 10 DRM-free tracks per month for the given monthly fee.

“With its huge scale and user base, HP’s 10-country introduction … will help encourage legitimate access to digital music content,” Rob Wells, Universal Music’s digital music chief, said in a statement.

HP’s MusicStation service, which comprises of some 6.5 million tracks already offered by Omnifone, is live as of today but quite whether it has what it takes to be a serious contender against the likes of Spotify remains to be seen (as for iTunes, we dare say Apple are doubtless quacking in their logo emblazoned boots).