The U.K.-based Virgin Group said on Wednesday that it plans to launch its digital music service, Virgin Digital UK, on Friday, offering a library of over one million tracks for 79p ($1.42) each. The service was developed in-house, and will feature tracks licensed through U.S.-based MusicNet. In addition to permanent downloads, Virgin Digital will offer a basic subscription for 9.99 pounds ($18) per month and a premium version for 14.99 pounds ($27) per month. Virgin Digital will be promoted within all Virgin Megastores, which will also sell MP3 hardware compatible with the service from Samsung, Sony, Creative and iRiver; the service will not support Apple's iPod. The company also partnered with U.K. broadband provider Blueyonder, to offer free downloads and trial subscriptions to Virgin Digital. "With a strong music heritage behind us, as a record label and a retailer, Virgin has a huge advantage, and platform to launch a digital service that will become the ultimate destination to buy, stream, burn and enjoy the best the music world has to offer," said Virgin Group founder Richard Branson.
The global cloud computing market is undergoing new significant growth, driven by the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and the demand for flexible, scalable infrastructure. The recent market study by International Data Corporation (IDC) provides compelling evidence of this transformation, highlighting the accelerating growth in cloud infrastructure spending and the pivotal role of AI in shaping the industry's future trajectory. Shared Infrastructure Market Development The study reveals a 36.9 percent year-over-year worldwide increase in spending on compute and storage infrastructure products for cloud deployments in the first quarter of 2024, reaching $33 billion. This growth substantially outpaced non-cloud infrastructure spending, which saw a modest 5.7 percent increase to $13.9 billion during the same period. The surge in cloud infrastructure spending was partially fueled by an 11.4 percent growth in unit demand, influenced by higher average selling prices, primari