The increasing popularity of iTunes has laid waste to yet another competitor as Virgin Group has announced the closing of its Virgin Digital online music subscription and download store. The Windows Media DRM-based site started turning away customers as early as last Friday, with the final blow slated for October 19th.
Although Virgin has posted an official farewell to its users on the site, the company hasn't named an explicit reason for the closure. However, consumers' lukewarm response to the subscription model and the proliferation of DRM-free music from other providers are likely culprits.
News of the closure comes at an especially active time for the digital music market with high profile competitors like Sony also shuttering its online music store just last month. In an attempt to avoid a similar fate, MTV Networks and RealNetworks recently merged their online offerings, but with the increasing popularity of iTunes it's looking like the market is only going to get smaller and pricing less competitive.
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