Ever since iTunes debuted in 2003, people have been speculating whether or not Apple’s CEO, Steve Jobs, would introduce a subscription service, allowing users to download an unlimited amount of music.

Other online music stores, such as Napter, Rhapsody, and RealNetworks have strived to embrace subscription services (also known as peer-to-peer networks) and have sold 2.5 billion downloads in a month, while its taken Apple’s iTunes three years to sell one billion songs. Phil Leigh, a senior analyst at Inside Digital Media, believes that while some people enjoy subscription services, not everyone is partial to them since Apple, who has no such service, is more popular by leaps and bounds than any of its rival online music stores.

“The number one factor retarding the acceptance of the subscription model is the dominance of Apple. The idea of subscribing to music is new to consumers so when they dominant player doesn’t talk about it, the idea seems out of the mainstream for most consumers,” said Leigh.

Assuming Apple introduces this new concept in the future, music downloader’s wouldn’t be the only ones getting more bang for their buck. In fact, this new policy would make record labels see greater profit from the sales of their artist’s albums on iTunes. It will come as no surprise that record labels have been pressuring Apple to create a subscription service so they can feel like they are getting more benefits out of the online music convenience. Leigh again commented by saying, “Record labels would like a subscription service. They, like anyone else, like recurring revenue. Ringing in the cash register every month is a beautiful way to run a business.”

So, will Jobs finally cave to a subscription service? As usual, Apple is being very tight lipped on the subject by declining all requests for comments, but other peer-to-peer network companies are guessing we can expect an announcement regarding such a service within the next six months. Now, we can only patiently wait to see how this story develops.

Posted in Rumors