By Mary Jane Irwin, 5:26 PM on Fri Oct 5 2007, 387 views (Edit, to draft, Top, Slurp)

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Anyone recall Rick Rubin's rant about digital music and how we need to sign up for a subscription service powered by cable providers — similar to the mumbo jumbo Bill Gates proposes for the Zune? Well, surprisingly, Time Warner Cable has taken Rubin's bait and jumped straight into the fray with Road Runner Music. For $9.95 a month, you get unlimited access to streaming music. It also will sell digital downloads through its store, and allow you to transfer files onto portables for an additional fee. With all these new entries into digital music distribution — real and rumored — it'll be interesting to see if Apple caves to market pressure and either allows flexible pricing on iTunes, as the labels have asked for, or a subscription plan, to stay competitive.