iTunes to get subscription service by year's end?

via engadget

This rumor is just about as old as iTunes itself, and while it has remained fairly dormant due to Steve's insistence on maintaining the oh-so-lucrative existing model, the subscription-based iTunes question has somehow surfaced again. According to Les Ottolenghi, CEO of INTENT MediaWorks, Apple could be leaning towards implementing such a service "within the next six months," and even went so far as to suggest we not believe any Apple-based denials that could potentially follow. Interestingly, several analysts even suggested that subscription-based systems haven't garnered much fanfare simply because the head honcho in digital music distribution isn't playing along. Unfortunately, no hints were dropped in regard to future pricing schemes, but you'll only be waiting about half a year to find out, anyway.