Look for a song, listen to it, burn it, and take it home on a CD or MP3 from a supermarket vending machine. Legally.

It’s already possible in Spain, where YourMusic successfully pioneered musical “pick and pay” machines and MusicPlay intends to launch in October a vending machine where people would pay 0,60 euros for a song. With the blessing of authors, musicians, labels, etc.

While MusicPlay machines will offer music from small or indies labels at 0,60 euros/song and harbours more than 300.000 tunes, YourMusic ones can count over a million songs and offers more popular music, mixing new and older tunes and pricing them accordingly: from 1 euro to 1,50 for the ultimate hit (IVA and CD included.)

Payment can be made cash, with a credit card, and in the case of YourMusic, via mobile phones.

Both systems claim that their main motivation is to inject bounce back into the wrecked music market. YourMusic promotes mainstream music and wants to be seen as another actor in the distribution chain.

MusicPlay wants to give new talents an opportunity to be known or allow record labels to offer music “out of catalogue” without being obliged to make new copies.

SGAE itself, the Spanish Society of Authors and Editors, approves of the system and has a prototype of a MusicPlay machine in its Madrid headquarters.

In its battle against piracy, the music industry did not manage so far to come out with a satisfying alternative marketing model that would let consumers download music in MP3 format AND pay the rights. The new Spanish system could be a solution.

From El Mundo.