After months of hullabaloo over online music subscription services, it appears as though the industry big boys are finally ready to test the waters.

Subscription aspirants MusicNet, Pressplay and Napster Inc. took turns this week at Jupiter Media Metrix Inc.'s Plug In forum here, touting their wares amid promises that they would launch within the next couple months. "We weren't kidding!" Rob Glaser, interim chief executive officer (CEO) of MusicNet, declared upon showing the first public demonstration of the company's long-awaited service. MusicNet was created by AOL Time Warner Inc., Bertelsmann AG, EMI Group PLC and RealNetworks Inc., and just added leading independent label Zomba Recording Corp. to its roster Tuesday. And while the subscription cowboys may be ready to ride, the big question at Plug In this year was how these services will differ and whether or not they will give consumers enough of what they want so that they won't mind paying after the era of free-for-all downloads. The major labels' entrance into online music subscription services have caused some chagrin among people who believe that these Goliaths have taken over the burgeoning industry at the expense of online music's innovators like Napster Inc. and MP3.com Inc. While the Big Five record labels initially moved to defend their copyright properties, they have since gobbled up startup online music companies, deciding that they too want to play the game. Pressplay in May acquired aspiring subscription service MP3.com, and is now planning to use the technology MP3.com made popular as the backbone for its own subscription service. Universal, before its association with Pressplay, was also one of the labels that dragged the renegade Napster to court for infringing upon their copyrights. In June, the upstart music file-sharing site signed a licensing deal with MusicNet, marking the end of Napster's independent status. But now that the days of free copyright music are over, consumers are waiting to see what these services will have to show for their still non-disclosed monthly fees.