Digital Trends

Since the days of the 45 rpm single, music has been about sharing. In the '60s and '70s, kids swapped records and made custom tapes. In the '80s and '90s it was CDs and recordable discs. The Internet Age turned MP3 tune-swapping into the primary source of music distribution for people of all ages—at the expense of the music industry which lost millions in revenue to illegal sharing.

Now with a fee-based--and legal--music download infrastructure firmly in place, Internet downloads are poised to become the medium for music distribution for the foreseeable future. New business models are popping up, expanding music distribution beyond the record store and giving fans new options for how they borrow, share and own music.

One of the more innovative ideas comes from MusicGremlin, a New York-based company whose Web-based download service uses Wi-Fi as the download channel rather than a PC. MusicGremlin players pack 802.11b Wi-Fi chips that tap into home networks, public hotspots and the T-Mobile service (the latter for a fee).

Each Gremlin player comes with the listings for around 2 million tracks, which are always available to users who opt for the $14.99/month subscription plan. You can also purchase tracks on an a la carte plan for 99 cents, competitive with other download services. The songs are encoded in WMA at 128kbps and protected by digital rights management. The player, which also plays MP3s, retails for $299.