Omnifone gives more details on Sony Ericsson’s PlayArena plus
Early today, Sony Ericsson confirmed details of its new unlimited music download service, PlayArena plus. Omnifone is running the service, which will launch first in Sweden with mobile operator Telenor this year, before rolling out to other countries next year.
We talked to Omnifone CEO Rob Lewis this afternoon, to get some more details, and clarify certain points. He’s characteristically bullish about the deal, as you’d expect. “Walkman is an iconic brand in terms of music, and Sony Ericsson’s handsets have the best audio quality, and in terms of full-track music downloads from operator portals, they take in excess of 50% of the market.”
So is PlayNow plus just Omnifone’s MusicStation service under a different name? Not according to Lewis. In fact, it’s actually a rebranded version of the MusicStation Max service that was announced earlier this year.
“We’re completely integrating the service into the Walkman media player,” says Lewis. “It’s totally wrapped up in it. “As you navigate through your albums, artists, playlists and tracks, all the menus are augmented with additional functionality – recommendations, charts, TrackID and so on.”
What does this mean for MusicStation Max’s existing partner LG, though? Lewis says that’s still going ahead. “PlayNow plus is a MusicStation Max proposition, but that doesn’t mean LG won’t launch their own brands,” says Lewis. “It’s non-exclusive in that sense.”
He confirms that Sony Ericsson hasn’t requested exclusivity on MusicStation Max, meaning that – for example – LG could launch a Max handset in countries where Sony Ericsson is offering PlayNow plus. Furthermore, Lewis says there are “no problems” with Sony Ericsson launching its flavour in markets where Omnifone already has relationships in place with operators for its basic MusicStation service.
So what pricing model will PlayNow plus use? Lewis confirms that the core offer will be bundling the cost into the price of a handset – just like Nokia’s Comes With Music – rather than using the weekly subscription model of MusicStation.
“The prelicensed model is that the phone comes with unlimited free music, so you buy your plan and get your handset, and then get 6-12 months of unlimited music,” he says. What happens then? “You get up to 300 of your favourite tracks to keep as DRM-free downloads, which makes this the first unlimited music service in the world to allow consumers to keep DRM-free music when their subscription runs out.”
How does that work, given that PlayNow plus downloads will be necessarily DRM-protected files? “Users will have a locker where they can go and get their DRM-free versions,” he says. “Then, they can choose to continue to pay a small weekly fee to download new music. And of course, they can buy a new handset and get another 6-12 months of unlimited downloads.”
However, Lewis says there will be a second option for PlayNow plus, where operators can offer the service embedded in Sony Ericsson Walkman handsets for a weekly subscription fee. “We’ll have a series of hero devices with free unlimited music, and then other Sony Ericsson handsets will offer the subscription option,” he says.
Since PlayNow plus will be tightly integrated with the Walkman media player, it won’t be as simple as downloading a client to the phone – as happens with MusicStation.
So how do operators fit into PlayNow plus? The clearest way, says Lewis, is that they’ll be able to use it as a way to sell data plans to consumers. “But they will also be able to get a revenue share for the paid-for unlimited music service, and they can roll out a MusicStation service on phones from other manufacturers,” he says.
PlayNow plus tracks will be encoded as eAAC+ files, which Lewis says offer four times the audio quality to standard mobile downloads (he’s not specific about what he’s comparing it to).
Tags: Omnifone, playnow plus, Sony Ericsson
September 24th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
[...] Ericsson não especifique lá muito bem as condições do serviço, alguns sites (The Register, Music Ally e Mark Mulliigan) dão conta de que os utilizadores interessados em aderir ao PlayNow Plus poderão [...]
September 24th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
The usual rubbish. “Pay, er, PlayNow Plus is completely unlimited, covers all major labels, no DRM, get all you want any time you like! This is the biggest deal in mobile music ever! Of course, it’ll only play for the duration of the contract, all songs then disappearing. Well, just a little DRM. Honest.” Etc.
June 24th, 2009 at 10:19 pm
There is obviously a lot to know about this. I think you made some good points in Features also.