"As Internet giants step into the crowded online music arena, some are banking on a new weapon to help attack market leader Apple Computer: instant messaging. Yahoo last week acquired digital music service Musicmatch for $160 million in cash in a move that adds a multimedia player, a digital music store and a subscription service to the company's arsenal. Despite the acquisition, Yahoo is on track to launch its own music service, music industry sources said, and eventually combine it with Musicmatch."It is still unclear as to what the exact game plan for Yahoo is, but all indications seem to point to the integration of the Yahoo Instant Messaging program into the music service. Therefore, one can expenct that since people can already listen to online radio through YIM, the new versions would perhaps let people share and interact with one another's digital playlists. Of course, this is something that Microsoft has been trying to do for some time now with MSN, Media Player and Passport (plus their new online music store). In will be interesting to see how things play out in the next quarter or two.
C|Net: "Can IM Morph Into Instant Music?"
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