gbox vs iTunes

A new startup company Navio Systems based in Apple's home town of Cupertino, California is trying hard to break the hold of Apple in online music domain.
Their recently launched music download website gbox is getting lot of attention and record labels like Universal and SonyBMG have started selling music on there website. Customers can buy tunes through gbox at the same price charged by market leader iTunes - 99 cents per track.
gbox will also benefit from a special advertising deal with Google. The adverts, which will appear when a user searches for a particular term, such as the name of an artist, will link to the gbox site.
Navio Systems is hoping to finally open the iPod to other formats with a system that stores the rights associated with a musical piece, game, or movie in the file itself, according to Business Magazine.
Navio software that enable its customers to offer copy-protected video content that will play on Apple's iPods . The move will create opportunities for movie studios and music labels to reach potential customers via a large number of outlets, effectively allowing them to bypass Apple's closed iPod/iTunes ecosystem which has maintained a tight hold on digital pricing despite numerous complaints from record labels.
The new service is offering downloads of Universal Music artists including Prince, 50 Cent and Johnny Cash without the customary copy protection technology known as DRM - digital rights management.
Most major recording studios insist music sellers use DRM technology on MP3 formats to curb online piracy.
The new site also hopes to use social networking sites like MySpace to sell its music.
It is also providing users with software code which users can place on blogs, so they can set up a wish list of songs that they would like to be bought for them.