Online music battle hots up

Is music something you own or something you rent? How music fans answer that question in coming months will help determine the viability of a new slate of online music services that offer to fill portable music players with an unlimited number of songs for a monthly fee.

While the music subscription approach has grown in recent years, far more music fans have opted to buy songs by the track, a business model popularised by Apple Computer Inc.’s iTunes Music Store and its hugely successful iPod portable player.