mobile music: May 2008 Archives

Sony Ericsson announced that five-time Grammy Award-winning artist Usher will headline Sony Ericsson’s Walkman music phone campaigns in North America. The partnership covers the United States and Canada, in addition to more than twenty countries in Europe and will include title sponsorship rights for Usher’s North American tour later in the year.

Sony Ericsson will engage in joint marketing activities with exclusive wireless operator, AT&T in the United States.

“This partnership with Usher is the ideal campaign for us to build on the leadership that we’ve established in the mobile music arena,” said Karen Morris, Sony Ericsson vice president of marketing in North America. “Consumers will be able to get the ultimate mobile music experience, thanks to Sony Ericsson and Usher.”

Napster  announced the launch of the world’s largest and most comprehensive MP3 store at www.napster.com/store.

Napster’s download store is more than 50% larger than any other MP3 store and boasts not only the largest major label MP3 catalog in the industry, but also the largest library of independent music available anywhere. All Napster download sales in the U.S. will now be in the user-friendly, DRM-free MP3 format, which is compatible with virtually any MP3 player or music phone including the iPod and the iPhone. Napster is the first music subscription service featuring major label content to offer 100% of its catalog in the MP3 format for download sales.

Pricing for download sales will remain at 99 cents for single MP3 tracks and $9.95 for most MP3 albums, Napster confirmed. The vast majority of the MP3 catalog, including all major label content, is available at a high-quality 256kbps bitrate, and downloaded tracks include high-resolution album art. Consumers can visit and browse the download store with no obligation or commitment, and can also choose to subscribe to Napster’s on-demand streaming service, which is web-based and can be accessed from any Internet-connected computer without downloading software.

Napster gives music fans the freedom of choice to discover, experience, and buy music on their own terms. With its web-based, open, innovative products and services, Napster gives consumers the ability to enjoy music across their desktop, living room, portable music player, and mobile phone.

Dada Entertainment (www.dada.net), the joint venture between Dada USA, Inc. and SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT, announced the addition of DRM-free MP3s to its product suite. The new offering complements the full range of mobile products that Dada already makes available to its members through mobile and Web storefronts, including ringtones, mobile wallpapers and games.

Music fans who sign up for Dada are given 15 tokens per month for only $9.99. Each token can be redeemed for one download of a ringtone, or other mobile content including wallpapers and games. In addition, and as an alternative to downloading only mobile content, Dada members now have the option to download full songs in the MP3 format to their computer. These MP3 tracks can subsequently be transferred to any mobile phone, iPod or digital music player. Dada expects to be able to offer users over-the-air MP3 downloads to mobile devices in the coming months.

SONY BMG’s catalog is currently available through the network, and the joint venture expects to add content from other labels in the near future. Dada users are billed for the service through their phone bill via Premium SMS.

The service is currently available to users from AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Alltel, Virgin, Cellular One, Boost, Cricket, and Nextel.