A Loudeye Competitor: Melodeo and Rogers (Canada)
This is good for the industry but privately held Melodeo of Seattle has one-upped their Seattle based neighbor, Loudeye, with this launch. Loudeye powers Cingular's mMode MusicStore but that service currently allows download only to a PC, not phone, although selected models allow ordering from the phone. The service supports aacPlus from Coding Technologies (which Loudeye has also licensed) and it allows downloading a copy to both phone and PC (which Loudeye will offer).
>> Introducing Rogers MusicStore
Rogers Wireless
Canada NewsWire
Toronto, Canada
Monday - May 09, 2005
rogers.com
Rogers Wireless, Canada's leading wireless communications service provider, unveils Rogers MusicStore, the first mobile music service in North America to offer customers the dual functionality of purchasing and downloading full songs to their PCs or wireless phones¹, directly from their wireless phones¹. As well, Rogers Wireless' has become the first wireless provider in Canada to offer RealTrax ring tunes - MP3-quality music clips taken from real songs by original artists, from record labels EMI Recorded Music, Universal Music, and Warner Music.
¹ This service available only the Nokia 6620 wireless phone to start.
² Visit www.rogers.com/musicstore for phones that support Rogers MusicStore.
Starting today, Rogers Wireless customers will be able to purchase and download full songs from Universal and Warner to their wireless phones and PCs, and RealTrax ring tunes from EMI, Universal, and Warner to their wireless phones.
The full music track and dual-download functionality of Rogers MusicStore, available through the Rogers Wireless navigate mobile Internet portal, is powered by the Melodeo Mobile Music Service. Today's announcement represents Melodeo's entry into the North American market.
"Rogers Wireless was named the favourite wireless brand in Canada for youth by Trendscan Youth Culture, and we will continue to earn this position with youth by providing them with access to the things that matter most to them," explained Rob Bruce, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Rogers Wireless. "Rogers Wireless appreciates the power of music in the lives of Canadian youth and young adults. We're delighted to be the first carrier in North America to put full track, original recordings into the palms of their hands, wherever they are, through today's innovative announcement and with the enthusiastic support of the music industry."
"Rogers Wireless has become the first wireless carrier in North America to offer customers the dual-ability to download music wirelessly directly to their wireless phone or to their wireless phone and PC," said Graham Henderson, President, Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA). "The music industry, in concert with progressive companies like Rogers Wireless, has long appreciated that music fans want to take full advantage of the flexibility the digital revolution has made possible. Today's announcement by Rogers Wireless is a great leap forward. Rogers Wireless customers will have the ability to access music wherever they are and, more importantly, to share it legally with friends and family. This will change the way that we experience music. Rogers Wireless clearly understands the enormous potential for the legal digital marketplace and we salute them."
"Downloading and sharing full track digital songs over a wireless device is the next important evolution of music distribution and expression," said David Basskin, Vice President of CMRRA/SODRAC Inc. (CSI). "Rogers MusicStore enables music lovers to access and share the music of their choice, in a quality environment, with the full support of music publishers."
"We're thrilled to be working with Rogers Wireless to bring full track music and ring tones to Canadian music lovers," said Bill Valenti, CEO, Melodeo. "The wireless phone is the one device you have with you all the time, and music is a part of our daily lives, so it only makes sense to bring the two together. We know that Rogers Wireless customers will be delighted that their wireless phones now offer them a whole world of music as well."
Rogers MusicStore includes an extensive library of today's hottest music from which Rogers Wireless customers can select and download full songs. Thousands of tracks are available to customers through Rogers MusicStore and the catalogue will continue to grow rapidly as further content becomes available. The service also includes PowerSearch capability for finding songs, albums or artists with just a few keystrokes. As well, Rogers Wireless customers can browse music recommendations, new releases, and music charts. Finally, Rogers Wireless customers can personalize their music catalogues since the service has intelligence that allows it to learn an individual's taste and serve up music that would likely appeal.
Once songs are downloaded from Rogers MusicStore, customers can play them on their PCs or directly on capable wireless phones as often as they like. As well, the service provides peer-to-peer functionality, enabling customers to purchase and then send DRM-protected tracks from wireless phone to wireless phone.
Melodeo's software incorporates the most advanced audio codec, aacPlus from Coding Technologies, which produces music files significantly smaller than a typical MP3 file, in a solution that is downloaded, not streamed. While phone memory will vary by handset, users can expect to store roughly 75 to 125 tracks with 64MB of memory. In some cases, customers can opt for an additional memory card to significantly increase the number of songs to be stored.
The RealTrax ring tunes available through Rogers MusicStore let customers share their taste in music every time their wireless phone rings. Rogers Wireless customers with Call Display Ring Tune ID can take this personalization option one step further by assigning specific songs to specific phone numbers to instantly identify who is calling. For a full list of RealTrax-capable wireless phones, visit www.rogers.com/ringtunes.
Song downloads from Rogers MusicStore will range in price from $1.25 to $1.99.³ Rogers MusicStore is currently accessible on the following wireless phones: Motorola V551, Motorola V220, Nokia 6620, and Nokia 3220. The number of capable phones will continue to grow in the coming weeks and months. Customers can visit www.rogers.com/urmusicstore for more information and to register to purchase music from a Rogers Wireless phone.
³ A $1.00 download fee applies for dual delivery to wireless phone and PC.
About Melodeo
Melodeo, Inc. is a privately held company in Seattle, Washington, entirely focused on the music mobile phone market and dedicated to creating software and services to bring music to mobile phones. The Melodeo Mobile Music Service provides wireless operators and phone handset manufacturers the means to provide secure digital music to wireless subscribers in an easy-to-use, dynamic user interface. Recognizing the growing market for wireless content, Melodeo offers its easy-to-use distribution model that at the same time supports the Digital Rights Management initiative, securing artist and label compensation. For more information, visit the company's website at melodeo.com
In addition to North America, Melodeo has a presence in Europe with Telefonica Moviles Espana, the largest operator in the Spanish market with more than 20 million customers. Melodeo has a licensing agreement with Warner Music Group to provide Warner's extensive catalog to mobile music customers in Europe and North America, and recently announced a licensing agreement with EMI music, providing the EMI catalog to Melodeo customers in most of Europe.
ABOUT ROGERS WIRELESS
Rogers Wireless is the largest Canadian wireless communications service provider, serving more than 5.7 million subscribers at December 31, 2004, including over 5.5 million wireless voice and data subscribers. Rogers Wireless acquired Microcell Telecommunications Inc. ("Microcell"), effective November 9, 2004, which added approximately 1.3 million subscribers to the total subscriber base. Rogers Wireless operates both a Global System for Mobile Communications/General Packet Radio Service ("GSM/GPRS") network, with Enhanced Data for GSM Evolution ("EDGE") technology, and a seamless integrated Time Division Multiple Access ("TDMA") and analog cellular network. Rogers Wireless is Canada's only carrier operating on the world standard GSM/GPRS technology platform. The GSM/GPRS/EDGE network provides coverage to approximately 93% of Canada's population. Rogers Wireless estimates that their more than 5.5 million wireless voice and data subscribers represent approximately 17.3% of the Canadian population residing in their coverage area and approximately 36.8% of the wireless voice and data subscribers in Canada. <<
- Eric - |
