Exciting news for all Westlife fans

NEWS Record label BMG is launching a pre-paid subscription service that will give fans of Irish boy band Westlife exclusive access to premium areas of the group's website. The InteractivCash pre-paid cards will go on sale at Virgin Megastores for £14.99 and will cover users for a year's subscription to 'Westlife Platinum' on westlife.com. The promotion has been announced to coincide with the launch of the band's album World of Our Own. Nathan Jackson, business development manager at ETC, BMG's partner in the venture, told silicon.com: "The internet has been seen as being free but these days are numbered. Many companies have gone out of business and now people are realising they have got to charge for content." Jackson added that the mobile phone model - with the sale of logos and ring tones and the application for pre-paid cards - demonstrates that people are prepared to pay for additional services and that pre-pay cards are a popular method of payment.