A new music service dubbed gBox launched today, hoping to tap into bother social networking and the fad for embedded widgets on Web page to encourage music fans to “gift” music to each other. And to sweeten the deal, they’re offering tracks from Universal Music in DRM-free format for $0.99 apiece.
Gift-giving is the basis of the gBox idea. Users set up an account on the system and create a “wishlist” of music they want. Users can buy the items directly from gBox for themselves if they like, but they can also surf other wishlists created by friends and contacts, and purchase wished-for items for friends. Moreover, gBox users can embed a gBox widget on their Web pages (blogs and profiles count), enabling users to see their wishlists and directly “gift” an item via gBox. gBox currently features more than 600,000 trakcs from Sony BMG, the IODA Alliance, and Universal Music—the latter of which are available in DRM-free MP3 format for $0.99 a track, $9.99 per album.
gBox has also worked out a potentially lucrative advertising arrangement with Google, whereby Universal’s DRM-free tracks and artists are promoted via Google advertisements.
gBox hopes to tap into social networking, fans’ natural enthusiasm for music they love, and the upcoming holiday-gift giving season to make a dent in the digital download market.
Currently, gBox is only available to U.S. users; the site supports only Windows XP or Vista with IE6+ or Firefox 2.0. The company says it is working on Mac and LInux support.
