Following last week's federal ruling that MP3.com violated copyright infringement laws, the Web-based music distribution company seems to be changing its tune.

MP3.com announced on Tuesday that it was launching a classical music subscription service. For a monthly fee of $9.99, the Classical Music Channel offers unlimited streaming access to more than 3,400 tracks, in addition to more than 300 free downloads from the collection.

Making a similar announcement on Tuesday were record labels Sony Music and Universal Music, which have joined forces to launch a subscription-based digital-music service. The companies said they will launch the new effort within a year, providing Internet users with licensed music and video content that may include streaming and downloading features.

In addition to the lawsuit against MP3.com by the Recording Industry Association of America, the RIAA, along with metal band Metallica and rapper Dr. Dre, has sued Napster Inc., a software program that allows users to easily swap MP3 files.

MP3.com, as well as Sony and Universal, says it hopes that the creation of such licensed, fee-based subscription services for downloading music off the Internet will lead to a mutually equitable system for labels, artists and Web companies.