Australia's leading online music download services Destra is the first
Aussie to offer purchasable music downloads without requiring a credit
card. The service works similar to
using a prepaid mobile phone: A
consumer orders a prepaid voucher of any amount at a vending terminal using cash
and simply follows the online webstore's instructions to credit their account
with the voucher. After that, when
the consumer purchases a tune, the title price is deducted from their remaining
credit similar to how a prepaid mobile phone call or text message is
charged.
This service is targeted at those who do not own a credit card such as
the under 18's as well as those who do not trust using their credit card
online. Destra have negotiated with
over 10,000 retail outlets across
|
Destra's CEO, Mr. Domenic Carosa said, "The online music market is now gearing up for the Christmas sales rush. The under 18 marketplace, the largest consumers of music, will now be able to pre-purchase their online music without the need to use parents' credit cards." Destra has negotiated access to pre-paid voucher vending terminals in over 10,000 retail outlets across Australia including such major retailers as Sanity and HMV. Destra Music managed music websites will tell online customers where to find the nearest pre-paid terminal. The vouchers vended by these terminals will work in the same way as pre-paid mobile phones. Consumers will go to a selected outlet and pay any dollar amount toward a music voucher and then be given instructions on the docket to retrieve their online music purchase without the need for credit cards. "This is a first for the online music market in Australia and it reinforces Destra's position as the market leader by providing every opportunity to purchase online music, particularly for younger consumers under 18 years of age, " Domenic added. DestraMusic.com (100% owned by Destra) will be re-launching its online digital music network (previously known as WiredRecords.com) by the end of the year with thousands of new tracks from the major record companies available in time for the lucrative Christmas sales period. |
This seems like a much better approach as opposed to entering a credit card number for each song purchase or charging downloads to your ISP account bill. It is not clear if there is any saving in using a voucher based system over paying the credit card companies to use their service and if any saving is passed to the consumer. If the voucher's are not locked to an account at the time of purchase like with prepaid mobile phone vouchers, then these would also make a suitable Christmas stocking filler. So far, no song pricing or DRM limitations have been announced for use of the voucher system.
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Source: Music Industry News Network
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