Napster to sell mobile ringtones
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Los Angeles-based music downloading service Napster has partnered with another company to sell mobile phone ringtones, ITObserver.
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(InfoWorld) - A U.K. startup hopes to compete withÂ Apple's new iPhone by offering a flat-rate music service that can run on most of today's mobile phones. Omnifone Ltd. launched on Thursday its MusicStation service that allows mobile phone users to download as many music tracks as they want for â¬2.99 (US$3.97) per week. The company previewed MusicStation in February at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona. The Swedish mobile phone subsidiary of Norwegian telco Telenor ASA is the first to offer the MusicStation service. More than 30 operators in Europe, Asia and South Africa have signed up to offer the service. To use MusicStation, users must have handsets preinstalled with the application. "MusicStation runs on any Java and music-enabled device," said Omnifone spokesman Tim Hadley. "We're talking about 75 percent of the phones currently available on the market." The company plans to have more than 100 million MusicStation-enabled handsets within the next 12 months. Omnifone has developed software that allows its application to be ported to the many different types of Java used on mobile phones, according to Hadley. One of the main benefits of MusicStation is quick and easy navigating and downloading -- unlike many of the carrier music portals, based on WAP (Wireless Access Protocol) technology, which can be time-consuming and difficult to browse, according to the spokesman. "The application is very comparable to an MP3 player user experience," he said. Downloads to mobile phones over 3G (third-generation) mobile phone networks can take between 30 seconds and one minute, all of which can happen in the background. The service also runs on GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) networks. Omnifone has signed licensing deal with several large music companies, including EMI Music, Sony BMG, Universal Music Group and Warner Music International. "We're starting with over 1 million tracks," Hadley said. DRM (digital rights management) technology protects all of the music. The mobile MusicStation service includes several features, such as messaging and the ability to share playlists and tracks. Over the next few months, the company plans to offer a MusicStation desktop application. For an additional â¬1 per month, customers can have all of the tracks downloaded to their mobile phones automatically download to their PCs when they log on to the portal service, according to Hadley. Operators, music companies and Omnifone will split revenue generated by MusicStation. Apple announced this week that iPhone users will need an account for its iTunes Store music service before activating the device. The iPhone debuts in the U.S. on June 29. Â
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&quot;Napster Mobile is a natural extension for the biggest brand in digital music and will enhance our development of wireless delivery,&quot; Napster Chairman and CEO Chris Gorog said.
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Napster on Thursday said it&#39;s testing a monthly subscription service that would let customers download an unlimited number of songs and play them on portable music devices
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Napster Offers Music Downloads to Cell Phones  Napster is invading a cell phone near you with Napster To Go, their portable music subscription service which is available for users of the new AT&#038;T Wireless based Audiovox SMT5600 Smartphone. The Napster To Go / Audiovox SMT5600 compatibility enables the only mobile phone ...
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Online music service Napster Inc.   said on Monday that it hired UBS Investment bank to  help it look at strategic alternatives, which could include the  sale of the company.
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Back at No. 1 for the 29th straight week, it's everybody's favorite ringtone. The music market tracker Billboard will begin ranking the customized mobile phone sound snippets beginning next week &#151; another sign that ringtones are fast becoming a staple of recording industry sales,
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Can we offer you a cute logo and losses? A brave Napster is willing to keep pounding away at the unprofitable online music market. Er, unless someone wants to buy the company.â¦
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The mobile phone and music industries are hoping to kick-start mass-market consumption of music over mobile handsets by unveiling on Monday a new, low-priced flat-rate service intended to challenge Apple's plans to offer music on its iPhone device.
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'Dirty little secret' retains niche appeal 3GSM Ringtones and music will always take a bigger slice of the mobile content market than games or erotica, according to an adult content aggregator.â¦
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Napster Inc, one of the largest digital music  retailers, said it will partner with Swedish telecom equipment  maker Ericsson and Chilean telecommunications company Entel PCS  to launch its mobile music service in Latin America for the  first time.
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Napster said Monday that it would start selling only MP3's from the second quarter on, effectively returning to its roots.
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Cell phones will soon be the biggest destination for music downloads, Napster says.
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NAPSTER creator SHAWN FANNING has revealed his plans for a new licensed file-sharing service with an almost unlimited selection of tracks.
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The music industry magazine will soon be publishing a list of best-selling ring tones, according to sources.
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For Napster to Go users only Napster UK is giving away free MP3 players to all new subscribers of its portable music service.â¦
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NEW YORK - Shawn Fanning, the man who founded file-swapping service Napster as a student five years ago, has resurfaced in the digital music world, with a new company that aims to bridge the divide between music labels and peer-to-peer networks.