Telstra is bracing for a customer backlash and advising consumers not to leave "aggressive" messages after the telco announced it would close the BigPond Music online service.
The closure takes effect from 23:59 AEDT on December 11, 2014.
It will mean significantly less competition in Australia for Apple's iTunes music service.
Telstra stated on its Facebook page it would close BigPond Music with a "heavy heart".
It continued customers had been told the website would no longer be accessible from December 12. Refunds would be offered to people with BigPond Music vouchers.
General Manager of Fairfax Media's Satellite Music Australia Jonathan Champion was uncertain about the impact on music pricing in light of Telstra's move.
"Streamed music services within the Australian marketplace are terribly cluttered and there's a lot of movement in under-performing offerings," Mr Champion said.
"So what that means ultimately for consumers is uncertainty.
"We've already seen some consumer offerings close such as Songl.
"There's a lot of talk of just who's going to survive in that space among the big end of town with Pandora and Spotify. This is just the next one that actually appears to have moved on."
Telstra is hoping its move will be seen more as a key change than a sea change.
"The download-to-own music market has changed a lot," Telstra stated.
"We believe the best way for us to continue to provide great music services to our customers is via a partner model.
"Music is and will still be a major component of the premium content Telstra provides to thousands of Australians every day.
"We will provide our customers [with] more information on our plans in due course."
But Telstra is ready for the inevitable customer onslaught on its BigPond Music Facebook page.
"Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to ask questions about the closure of the BPM downloads store.
"Please note that any messages posted on this page that use aggressive language will be deleted."
