I'd very quickly pay a monthly fee for a universal license, provided it's free of DRM and anything like it, lets me use it how I want and pretty much exhibit the common sense rights that come when you purchase something.
So yeah, I agree, if that were available I'd be the first to sign up and buy my array of hard drives.
I think napster is the most viable existing service that provides a service close to what you are talking about. It has DRM to prevent these types of abuses. It's otherwise affordable. It's not like most people around here don't know how to take DRMed music and rip it...
Why do i want to buy hard drives and manage a huge collection of mp3s? I use to but got tired of doing so...now with my iPhone I just stream the music I want to hear.
SOme of these iphone apps and services cache the music so when i have no internet I listen to the cache.
Could you be more specific about the apps you use and the caching features?
I'm interested in moving my music into the cloud as well.
Thanks.
Edit: were you referring to a theoretical service or a real one?