John Buckman from Magnatune announced today a change in their business model: they're moving away from the sales of individual albums, and fully embracing a no-limits subscription model. For one monthly subscription price, users get unlimited access to their music catalog.

The fact that a relatively small player like Magnatune can get away with this at prices competitive with Rhapsody and other music services with millions of popular songs is a powerful affirmation of what today's music consumers really want. And in fact, Buckman states their data conclusively suggested that, when users were presented with a "pay-what-you-will" per-album model vs. a flat rate subscription model, users overwhelmingly went for the subscription.

A magnificent bit of storytelling in a beautifully crafted package, directed by Grzegorz Jonkajtys. From his description:

An unknown virus has destroyed almost the entire human population. Oblivious to the true nature of the disease, the only remaining survivors escape to the sea. In great ships, they set off in search of uninhabited land. So begins the exodus, led by one man ...

The owners of a Second Life sim named Hosoi Ichiba have announced a competition to create a machinima video that best captures the spirit of their virtual world location. According to their description, "Hosoi Ichiba is an asian-themed market surrounding a meditation garden located on a traditional asian-themed island called Japan Kanto." From the look of the pictures on their blog, it's a really beautiful location.