In the wake of Apple’s unprecedented success with its iTunes music download service, the race is on to make a similar service available on the Windows platform – which represents some 97% of the desktop computer market. Leading player Moontaxi is not only Canadian, but its Puretracks offering may emerge as the first à la carte Windows-based service to come to market in North America when it launches this September.

The four-year-old Toronto-based company has traditionally focused on providing access to Internet music streaming and radio to consumers via www.moontaxi.com. Now, Moontaxi’s Puretracks is set to do battle with a number of U.S.-based music download services, including RealNetworks’ Rhapsody, AOL’s MusicNet, Roxio’s PressPlay (soon to be Napster) and MusicMatch.

Puretracks’ key advantage is that, unlike these other offerings, it’s a true à la carte service – no subscription or membership fees. Just pick what you like and pay for the single download.

Alistair Mitchell, co-founder of Toronto-based Moontaxi Media, is reluctant to reveal the launch strategy but says a number of promotional approaches will be employed including: leveraging Canadian record labels as a ‘built-in’ marketing platform; expanding Moontaxi’s already existing ‘my moontaxi’ service (where users can personalize their playlists) to provide additional interactive magazines for different genres; and partnering with universities to provide campuses with the service.

Moontaxi has hired Toronto-based agency Cyclops Partners, a joint venture between Partners & Edell and Cyclops Communications. Media buys will mainly employ radio and print, but Mitchell says the company is also considering outdoor.

Moontaxi won’t mince words when it comes time to communicate with consumers in September. ‘The core message is going to be that we’re delivering a full range of licensed digital content at a high level of audio quality in a convenient manner and at a fair price,’ says Mitchell.

The firm is currently in the midst of securing distribution deals with four of the five major labels, Universal Music Canada having already been signed. EMI and BMG have already begun providing Puretracks with digitized content and indies Justin Time, DKD Group, Nettwerk, MapleMusic and True North have also inked deals.

Randy Lennox, president of Universal, is excited about the marketing opportunities presented by a Canadian option. ‘We’ll be paying attention to such things as French language. And furthermore, we’re going to be able to emphasize Canadian content, which U.S. carriers may not do with the kind of emphasis that we will.’

The labels are remaining mum about what specific marketing efforts they’ll employ to help promote their participation in the Puretracks service when it launches. However, Lennox does say, ‘We’ll use our own Web site, umusic.ca… and we will help market Puretracks along with our existing retailers, for example. We’d love to see MuchMusic involved – so we see a myriad of opportunities to promote and brand the name Puretracks.’

Denise Donlon, president of Sony Canada, expects the emergence of Puretracks to cause a shift in her company’s marketing focus to areas that in the past have been harder to service, such as back catalogue, rarities and custom compilations. But she also says new marketing dollars for the channel will depend on what genre is being targeted.

‘There are obviously marketing initiatives where you can focus purely on a digital service,’ says Donlon. ‘Or you can say, ‘I’ve got the new Beyonce record and I’m going to market it anyway to mass audiences, so this is one of the areas that I’ll make sure my constituency knows to go to.’ You can piggyback on existing marketing plans.’

The Puretracks service can also be made available through third parties such as online retailers or portals like Sympatico. Such partners can have the service white-labeled (meaning it might be tagged ‘powered by Puretracks’ or branded as Puretracks). Initially, however, the service will only be available through Puretracks.com.

It’s not all smooth sailing for the service. While the company is all but assured of signing deals with all the majors, there are hurdles such as what price point per download will be offered and the fact that the labels are also already working with similar American-based players.

Donlon says that like iTunes, 99 cents is the right price. ‘I think 99 cents per track provides a reasonable opportunity to ensure that people are paid.’

The problem is even Moontaxi can’t say for sure that everyone will agree on that price.

‘[I hope] 99 cents a download [is] what it’s going to be,’ says Mitchell. ‘And there’s a certain amount of effort on our part that’s going on to make the case that that’s a solid marketing idea. There’s a huge opportunity, but there also needs to be a very clean message [to the consumer].’

Nevertheless, the industry is happy to have something that can make a dent in the scourge of illegal filesharing, which the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) says is responsible for a $250 million, or 20% decline, in retail sales over the last three years. Brian Robertson, president of the CRIA, for one, applauds Puretracks for providing a ‘compellingly attractive, legal online service that will create a whole new business model with the industry.’