Universal is leading a charge against iTunes with a subscription-based streaming music model supposedly called ‘Total Music’ (how bland!) that would be free* to consumers. Free, of course, meaning that while you may not pay money directly to Universal for the music, you will be paying it when you buy a new device with the service that will be more expensive now or when your ISP ups its rates to accommodate the charge and bandwidth fees. In the long run it will very likely end up costing you more than anything you’ve bought on iTunes, but that’s besides the point, it’s free.

The headline this week is: Universal Takes on iTunes. The headline in a few months will be: Universal Takes on iTunes and Loses. You have to love how Universal continues to hedge its bets too – a few weeks ago their refusal to sign a long term renewal with iTunes made headlines, but all the music is still there, they can just pull it now at anytime if any of their idiotic ideas happen to catch on by accident. If they had any balls they would simply pull their music and do there own thing – this method just makes it seem like even they know that they don’t have anything.

iTunes is great because it works. Apple is second to none with a simple user interface and the connection between device and software. That said, there is room for improvement, and Amazon’s new MP3 store is definitely a tempting and noteworthy alternative – this yet-to-be-launched Universal service, I’m fairly confident, will not be. Simply look no further than the fact that Universal isn’t setting out to try and innovate and make a better experience for its users, they’re trying to break away from Apple and stop themselves from bleeding profits. That’s not innovation. That’s desperation.

free* = not free