Nguyen's idea was to re-create the business model of the music industry's golden age: Hear a song on the radio, then buy the record. Only now it would all take place on the Web. You'd stream a song from WOXY, then click to purchase the CD if you liked it.

Yep, that's what we used to do, just turn on the radio. Of course, it was easy to listen to the radio while going about one's life, and the programming was random, so listeners were constantly exposed to new things. Streaming specific songs on a website is quite different, so it might not have the same effect. Apparently, Internet/satellite radio isn't doing for music what broadcast radio did, and I would've given that better odds than WOXY. We'll see.

RE: Lala.com's Plan to Give Songs Away Could Upend the Industry