LONDON — Virgin Media, the cable-TV operator owned by entrepreneur Richard Branson, launched a new kind of music-download subscription service Monday with Universal, the world’s largest music company.
The service, described by the companies as a world-first, will allow Virgin Media’s broadband customers in Britain to stream and download as many songs and albums as they like from Universal’s catalog for a fee.
But entertainment lawyers said the service was unlikely to solve the music industry’s problem of billions of dollars lost to music piracy and would need to offer content from big-name entertainers to be attractive to consumers.
Universal, by far the biggest industry player, has a roster of talent that includes U2, Elton John, the Rolling Stones, Amy Winehouse, Duffy and James Morrison.
Virgin said it was continuing talks with other British major- and independent-music labels and publishers about including their artists in the new service.
The music will be available to download in an MP3 format, giving buyers the ability to listen on a range of devices, including iPods, mobile phones and PCs.
The subscription service, to be available later this year, builds on mobile-phone unlimited-download services.
Revenue from digital music sales rose 25 percent last year to $3.7 billion, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.
