JB Hi-Fi has quietly launched a preview page for its upcoming digital streaming service “JB Hi-Fi NOW”, competing against Sony’s two streaming offerings – Songl and Qriocity – and hoping to launch before Rdio and Spotify make their openings in Australia.
The site will offer 6 million songs at launch, and pricing is said to begin from $6.67 per month. The company is touting a launch in early 2012.
“This new service will leverage off the Company’s strong music heritage and is a natural extension to its current physical music sales,” the company said in an announcement back in August, announcing the plan during its annual profits report.
“A staged roll-out is anticipated over the quarter for Mac and PC, with a mobile solution to be added shortly after.”
However, it’ll have to hurry and get this out the door and get market share quick, as the Europeans and Americans are coming to Australia.
It’ll most likely that JB Hi-Fi will need to increase its library really quickly as Rdio and Spotify have a much larger catalogue compared to their offering. But you may never know, rights restrictions may force them to have a smaller library than launch – well, I think that’s what JB Hi-Fi is hoping.
But until then, we’ll have to wait and see if this is a good offering or not.