Yahoo Trying Out Web Music Player

Yahoo Inc., the world’s largest Internet search service, is testing an online music player that allows its customers to download and play recorded music, videos and radio stations from the Web. The music player, which consumers can download onto their personal computers from Yahoo’s Web site, can be found at https://player.broadcast.com. Yahoo declined to comment on the music software. The move comes almost a year after rivals America Online Inc., the world’s largest Internet service, and Lycos Inc. bought similar music players. America Online bought Nullsoft Inc., which developed the MP3 player Winamp, in June, while Lycos purchased the MP3 music player Sonique in August. Nevertheless, the two most popular media players are those from Real-Networks Inc. and Microsoft Corp.’s media software. MP3 files are digitized versions of music that can be stored on PCs and downloaded over the Internet. Shares of Santa Clara, Calif.-based Yahoo fell $7.75 to close at $115 on Nasdaq.