In a move that seems a little out of leftfield, Pure has let slip it will be launching a music download service next month. Pure‘s download service will be cloud based, and will integrate with Pure internet radios. It seems an odd move – and generates a big fat question mark here in the Electricpig camp.
The service will be based out of The Lounge, which is Pure’s web based service for managing internet radio stations, podcasts and other web content. Customers with a Pure internet radio will already have accounts at The Lounge.
A spokesperson for Pure said: “It’s completely changed from what we planned two years ago”, and implied that the service would be compatible with iTunes, although we couldn’t confirm it.
Pure’s foray into internet radios, although late, was a big success. The first internet radio they launched took 50% of the market. And although there’s little detail about the service, it’s hard to see the immediate motivation – what would be the benefit of a Pure radio download service, over and above iTunes, or even niche record store download services?
So it’s likely it will sync with your radio, via The Lounge which syncs automatically with whatever you do online, but when music downloads come into play, it’s hard to see how anything will be more convenient than sticking your iPod in the aux output?
Although internet radios allow you to easily reach hundreds of radio stations around the globe which would take hours of searching to even begging to discover, the same isn’t true of a music download service. That is, unless some sort of track identification facility is built in to offer a download of whatever Japanese psych-rock, Anatolian funk or Thai-pop you’re tuned into at any one time…
What would you like to see in Pure’s download service? Has it got a chance in hell?
