iLike has opened its own digital download store offering mp3's from all four major label groups. Buy buttons to iTunes and Amazon are still available, but iLike is clearly positioning its own store front and center as the option of choice.
Greg Sandoval at cNet called iLike an iTunes challenger, but iLike CEO Ari Patovi disagrees, "We're not challenging iTunes," he said, "but complementing it with a faster, more immediate option that's better tuned for the impulse-buy: by allowing you to purchase in-page without leaving the Web site you were on."
iLike's "more immediate option" should also return higher margins to the company. Affillite sales for iTunes and Amazon typically return 5-10% to the seller, but direct sales should net iLike closer 30-35%. Getting consumers to give you their credit card takes time; but once accomplished, sales will contribute to the various revenue streams that have reportedly made iLke one of the few cash-flow postive music 2.0 startups.
And iLike is hoping to extend the new sales platform across its network. "Today the service is available to users in the U.S.," says Patovi, "but we also intend to roll it out across our applications and platforms over time."
FYI: I asked iLike over the weekend about indie and d.i.y. product on the new store over the weekend and will update you when they respond.
