I’m going to go out on a limb, here, and suggest that this will fail miserably, because of this condition:

However, users may not be keen – if at any point they decide to stop paying the monthly subscription to their provider, they’re left with no access to any of the songs in their library or on their music player.

The idea that I have to continue to pay someone for the rest of my life to listen to the music I’ve downloaded is certainly a turn-off for me.

My favourite download site of the moment is Easy Music, by Stelios. It has a very simple pricing structure, and very simple DRM conditions. I suggest you check it out.

Downloads clearly are the future of the music industry, but I’m certain that pay-as-you-go services will be more popular than subscription services.