Virgin Radio invites majors to back its digital service.

But combined approach to new income streams must work both ways

Virgin Radio executive Clive Dickens is stretching out the hand of partnership to the record industry by billing the station's planned music subscription service as a way of boosting revenues for both labels and commercial radio.

The first details have emerged of the proposed service, which comes as part of plans by Virgin's new owner TIML Golden Square to invest in interests in the business beyond the core on-air station.

Dickens, the station's chief operating officer, says discussions are under way with all the majors about the service, which he reveals will be closer to the Universal/Sky subscription-plus download model, rather than the usual fixed-price, all-you-can-eat DRM subscription.

"Our model is about looking at the technology available and working out the balance between DRM and DRM-free. What we're suggesting is the monthly subscription can vary. If you're going to pay #5 a month you would get a certain amount of subscription and, say, five tracks to keep a month and if you pay #10 you'd get a certain amount of subscription and 10 tracks to keep each month," says Dickens, whose station will change its name from Virgin Radio in the autumn following the ending of a branding rights deal with the Virgin Group.

Dickens believes at present it is a hard sell to expect anyone to pay around #100 a year for a music subscription, only for them to lose all the music they thought they had when they stop subscribing.

The planned service will also have a text-based element, which will enable a listener to the radio station to send a text when they hear a track on air they like and they will then receive back details of what the track is called and how to purchase it.