LOADIT is the name Sanity took a year and a half to come up with. It was promised many times last year and then just fell off the face of the earth. That was until Thursday morning when a small press release was circulated finally announcing the launch of the Sanity music store within Windows Media Player 11.

Sanity’s LOADIT will work off a subscription basis. For $29 a month you will be able to download up to 300 tracks each month. The best part is that you can choose from over a million tracks. When you subscribe to LOADIT you will be able to access your tunes from up to three PCs and two portable media players. If you sign up for a 12 month plan Sanity will even throw in a free portable media player for you and your tunes.

Without doubt Sanity are going to face an uphill battle. iTunes just keeps getting bigger and bigger, especially with the announcement today that they are now offering movie rentals and purchases. Bigpond Music has also gained a rather large following and Nokia has joined the party with the Nokia Music Store. Of course there are some big overseas players like eMusic as well that Australians can use.

LOADIT does offer a unique service though thanks to their subscription set up. Laying down $29 each month is the cost of one and a half CDs (around 24 tracks) really so it offers good value. To increase their chances of getting a decent share of the digital market Sanity is offering a 14 day free trial for consumers.

You will also be able to purchase tracks on a single or album basis. Singles cost $1.69, the same as iTunes, while albums will set you back $17.

“The vast majority of PCs use Windows Media Player, and it has become one of the most popular ways for people to enjoy digital music,” said John Gillhespy, Consumer Partner Development Manager, Microsoft Australia.