Virgin Adds U.S. Online Music Store

Virgin Group Ltd., the British company owned by billionaire Richard Branson, officially started an online music store in the U.S. on Monday to compete with Apple Computer Inc.’s iTunes.

The Virgin Digital service offers Web users songs for 99 cents apiece from more than 1 million tracks, according to the company. The new unit also offers unlimited access to 100,000 albums for a monthly subscription of $7.99, it said.

Virgin, based in London, is the latest company to enter the online music market after the success of pioneer Apple, with its iPod device and iTunes service. The market may grow to $1.7 billion by 2009 in the U.S. from $270 million now, according to JupiterResearch in New York.

Virgin is entering a crowded market. Sony Corp. started Sony Connect, its music service, in May. In August, RealNetworks Inc. began selling music at 49 cents a song. Retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. also offer fee-based online music services.

In the last month, Microsoft Corp. unveiled a U.S. online music store and Yahoo Inc. agreed to buy Musicmatch Inc. for $160 million. Musicmatch sells individual songs that consumers can download for 99 cents each. It also lets subscribers pay $8 a month for access to its collection of 700,000 songs.

Apple has sold more than 125 million songs at 99 cents each though its iTunes stores in the U.S., France, Britain and Germany.