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Music Service

Napster Offers Music Service for Cell Phones

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 31, 2005 - 4:34am.
Los Angeles -- Napster announced on Wednesday the availability of its Napster To Go portable music subscription service for a number of cell phone models. The service is now available on smartphones and cell phones that run Microsoft's Windows Mobile 5.0 and Windows Mobile 2003, including the forthcoming Motorola Moto Q, and certain models made by Audiovox, HP, HTC, i-Mate, Orange, Palm, Samsung, Siemens and Sierra. The mobile subscription service will allow for both unlimited streaming of songs and a la carte downloads to cell phones. Wireless carriers that support handset models compatible with Napster To Go include BellSouth, Cingular, O2, Orange, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon and Vodafone.
tags: Mobile | Music | Napster | Music Service |

Nokia, Loudeye, Microsoft Offer Mobile Music Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 14, 2005 - 10:42am.
Cannes, France -- Cell phone maker Nokia on Monday announced that it has partnered with Loudeye, a provider of digital music retail services, to offer wireless network operators the ability to offer their own branded mobile music services. The service will let consumers browse, search, listen, and download full tracks and ringtones either to a cell phone or PC. Nokia partnered with Microsoft to integrate support for the company's Windows Media Audio and Video formats, and digital rights management technology into the branded music services. Separately, Finland-based Nokia also introduced a new smartphone model that includes an integrated music player with stereo output, full Internet browser, and both a 1.3 megapixel still image camera and two-way video camera. The Nokia 6680 will go on sale in Europe in April for about $580; a version of the smartphone for the Americas is scheduled to ship in the second quarter of 2005.
tags: Microsoft | Loudeye | Nokia | Mobiles | Music Service |

Music Choice Sues AOL Over Trademark for Cable TV Music Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 14, 2004 - 1:55am.
Horsham, Penn. -- Music Choice, a provider of music services on digital cable television systems, announced that it has filed a lawsuit against America Online, over that company's launch of a competing music service called "My MC." Pennsylvania-based Music Choice said the name is confusingly similar to its "My Music Choice" service, which launched in select cable TV markets in November 2003 and is set to become available nationwide this summer. AOL's My MC service is being offered to Time Warner Digital Cable subscribers. Music Choice said it filed the lawsuit on May 12, after efforts to settle the dispute out of court failed. "While Music Choice welcomes fair competition, we object to a competitor introducing a competing product under a confusingly similar name," said Music Choice president and CEO David Del Beccaro. "With millions of names out there to choose from, AOL's selection of the name MY MC for a channel that may appear alongside our own "MC" branded music channels will undoubtedly lead to confusion among the public and the industry at large,."
tags: Music | Cable TV | AOL | Music Service |

U.K. Digital Music Service Wippit Licenses Sony Music Tracks

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 12, 2004 - 2:08am.
London -- Wippit, a U.K.-based legitimate file-sharing service and song download store, announced on Wednesday that it has licensed tracks from major label Sony Music for its service. The company has already secured deals with fellow majors BMG and EMI, as well as with 200 independent labels. Along with Wippit, rival OD2 also currently offers legal song downloads to U.K. customers -- although the market will soon expand as Apple, Napster and Sony launch their own respective services in the region later this year.
tags: Sony | U.K | Digital | Music Service | Wippit |

Napster to Launch Music Service in U.K. by Summer

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 3, 2004 - 7:00am.
London -- Music download retailer Napster announced on Wednesday that it plans to launch a service for U.K. music buyers by the end of this summer. The news means that Napster will not beat out rival Apple, which plans to launch its iTunes Music Store in Europe sometime during the second quarter. Napster said its U.K. unit -- which can be reached at napster.co.uk when it is launched -- will feature localized content, genres and promotions. However, the company declined to give details on pricing. The decision to move into the U.K., the third-largest music market outside the U.S. and Japan, comes as part of Napster's country-by-country strategy for Europe, and the London office ultimately will serve as headquarters for its European operations, Napster said.
tags: Napster | U.K | Music Service |

7-11 to Sell AT&T Prepaid Cards Providing Access to Rhapsody Music Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 3, 2004 - 1:51am.
Morristown, N.J. -- AT&T announced on Tuesday that 7-11 convenience stores will carry a new prepaid card featuring its "Web Cents" technology that will give consumers access to RealNetworks' Rhapsody digital music service. The cards, priced at $14.95, will provide one month of access to Rhapsody's streaming music library and the ability to burn 15 songs to CD. AT&T said other partners using its Web Cents technology to sell prepaid online content cards include Disney Online, Shockwave.com and CBS Sportsline.com.
tags: AT&T | Rhapsody | Music Service | Prepaid Cards |

TruSonic Acquires MP3.com's Digital Music Service for Businesses

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 6, 2004 - 4:10am.
San Diego -- TruSonic, a new company formed to distribute digital music programming to businesses, announced on Tuesday that it has acquired the truSONIC brand and related assets from MP3.com, including licenses to MP3.com's library of 1.5 million songs from independent artists. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Former MP3.com chief technology officer Daniel O'Neill, who led the development of the truSONIC service, will serve as CTO of TruSonic, Inc., while Joseph Tebo was named president and CEO. Current customers for the service, which delivers digital music to retail stores over the Internet and allows control via a Web-based interface, include AMC Theaters, Petco Pet Supplies, Spencer Gifts and Comp USA.
tags: Digital | Music Service | MP3.com | TruSonic |

Music Choice, Napster Partner on Broadband Cable Music Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 10, 2003 - 5:26am.
Horsham, Pa. -- Music Choice, a provider of pre-programmed digital music channels that play on cable TV systems, announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with the Napster music download store to offer users of a soon-to-launch new service the ability to download tracks or albums they hear directly from the service. Music Choice Broadband, scheduled to launch early next year, will deliver broadband digital music channels to its cable TV operator partners to offer to their cable modem broadband Internet customers. The service will deliver music via satellite multicast, rather than over the Internet. When a song available on Napster plays on the new service, users will see a "Download Now" button where they can connect to Napster and purchase and download the track or album.
tags: Deals | Broadband | Music Choice | Napster | Cable | Music Service |

RealNetworks Partners with Comcast, Intel for Rhapsody Music Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 10, 2003 - 7:58am.
Seattle -- RealNetworks, a provider of media delivery technology and content subscription services, announced on Monday that cable TV operator Comcast will distribute RealNetworks' Rhapsody digital music service to its five million high-speed Internet customers. The company has similar agreements with other broadband providers, including Verizon, Cablevision, Charter and Time Warner Cable. Seattle-based RealNetworks also said on Monday that it has partnered with chipmaker Intel to make Rhapsody compatible with Intel's home networking products. RealNetworks will support Intel's Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) technology within Rhapsody, enabling home stereos and other products that use the Intel technology to more easily access Rhapsody digital music tracks stored on a PC over a home network. RealNetworks reports that Rhapsody users streamed over 28 million songs in October, a 33% increase over the number delivered during September.
tags: Deals | Comcast | RealNetworks | Rhapsody | Intel | Music Service |

L.A. Times: MIT Music Service Asked to Remove Universal's Songs

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 31, 2003 - 8:58am.
Los Angeles -- A new MIT campus music service, which looked to sidestep added royalty payments by distributing music over the school's analog cable TV network, has had to remove one major label's music, The Los Angeles Times reported. MIT's Library Access to Music Project (LAMP), invented by two students at the university, lets users trade-off playing DJ by choosing songs from 3,500 CDs, provided in digital form by Seattle-based Loudeye Technologies. It was Loudeye which did not have permission to distribute the tracks to MIT, said Universal Music Group, when it asked the school to remove UMG songs from the LAMP service. While MIT said it thought Loudeye had the appropriate licenses, Loudeye said it simply provided MIT with files and the school was then responsible for securing necessary licenses. "It is unfortunate that MIT launched a service in an attempt to avoid paying recording artists, union musicians and record labels. Loudeye recognized that they had no right to deliver Universal's music to the MIT service, and MIT acted responsibly by removing the music," Kelly Mullens, a spokeswoman for Universal Music, told The Times.
tags: L.A. Times | Music Service | MIT | Universal's Songs |

Reuters: EMI Close to License Deal With Wippit Online Music Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 23, 2003 - 10:25am.
London -- Major record label EMI is close to negotiating a deal to license its songs to Wippit.com, an online service that offers music downloads via both peer-to-peer and centralized server technologies, sources close to the deal told Reuters. Wippit.com currently features 60,000 tracks from independent labels including V2 and Telstar, through a subscription service that offers unlimited downloads for a single, annual fee. Sources told Reuters that EMI may offer as many as 100,000 songs from its catalog on Wippit in the coming weeks.
tags: Deals | Internet | EMI | Reuters | Music Service | Wippit |