Music Ally

Yesterday we reported that UK digital music firm Omnifone claimed to be the most widely available music service in the world.

Whether or not the claim held any water when it was made is already a moot point.  Nokia’s Comes With Music service is now available across the Middle East, which means that it’s operational in 27 markets, compared to the potential 20 that Omnifone can reach. On top of this  the a-la-carte Ovi Music service is now available in 33 markets and is completely DRM-free. For comparison, iTunes music store is currently available in 23 countries.

It’s easy to be disparaging about Comes With Music, the service that bundles unlimited downloads into the cost of a handset, not least because the figures have been less impressive than music industry execs had expected; while Nokia itself confesses that the service has been disappointing in some key markets.  But all credit to the Finns as they continue to forge ahead with the strategy, finding international niches more successful than the initial UK outing.

Digital music provider Omnifone has announced today that its MusicStation digital music service is to be made available on all Android handsets including the Google Nexus One and HTC Magic. (more…)

Every morning, Music Ally subscribers are sent our daily email bulletin, offering a snapshot of news, analysts and rumours from the last 24 hours. We’re sharing today’s for free on this blog, to give an idea of what subscribers get in their inboxes by 9.30am GMT. If you’re interested in subscribing, you can sign up for a free two-week trial here.

Read on for today’s Bulletin, and do pass this link on to any colleagues or contacts who  you think would be interested too.

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Omnifone’s expansion beyond mobile continues: the company has agreed a deal to put its MusicStation service on HP’s PCs and laptops in ten European countries, from today.

People buying 16 of HP’s computers will get unlimited WMA downloads, and the rights to keep 10 tracks as MP3s every month. Each country will get a tailored selection from Omnifone’s 6.5-million-strong catalogue.

The monthly subscription will cost £8.99 in the UK (and €9.99 across Europe). The countries covered are the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Belgium and Austria.

“We look forward to extending our partnership onto even more PCs and territories, to ensure consumers have the ability to gain legitimate access to the world’s music on every HP PC they purchase,” says Omnifone boss Rob Lewis.

Vodafone Spain has launched a new all-you-can-eat flat-rate data tariff for its customers, which includes unlimited access to music. Customers pay €13.92 (including VAT) a month for the offering, which gives them access to music from all the majors and various independents.

The service uses DRM to ensure that songs stop working when the user stops paying. It’s powered by RealNetworks rather than Vodafone’s existing unlimited music partners Omnifone, which will add fuel to the rumours that the relationship between the two ‘fones is drawing to a close.

Existing Vodafone flat-rate mobile users will get the new service automatically.

There may be doubts about the health of the OTA mobile music downloads market, but that’s clearly proving a spur for Omnifone to ramp up its push into other sectors.

The company has announced a new version of its MusicStation unlimited music service – MusicStation Next Generation – which has broadband ISPs as its target customers, rather than mobile operators. The idea is to deliver unlimited music and music videos to broadband users via their computers or set-top boxes.

Omnifone says it has licensing in place on a pan-European basis from all four major labels and thousands of independents (what about publishers though?), and says it will announce “major ISP partners” shortly.

The service could be bundled in with broadband users’ existing monthly bills, or offered on a Pay As You Go basis. It ties right into the desire of the music industry and governments for new methods of music consumption that may appeal more to consumers than piracy.

“Tens of millions of European consumers are engaged in music piracy every day. Whilst government pressure is growing, we also need to deliver alternatives that recognise the needs and desires of the YouTube generation,” says Omnifone CEO Rob Lewis.

“With today’s announcement, Omnifone is offering consumers something better than piracy.” However, it does beg the question of how much traction Omnifone sees for MusicStation in the mobile arena – something we’ll be asking the company when we meet them later today at Mobile World Congress, where the new service is being shown off for the first time.

You’d hardly expect rival music services to be all sweetness and light about Nokia’s Comes With Music. UK download store 7digital and mobile music firm Omnifone have been giving their public responses to yesterday’s announcement.

7digital has gone in all guns blazing, suggesting that CWM is “fatally flawed” due to the songs being DRM-wrapped. “Nokia claims users will be able to keep any downloaded tracks forever, even if they decide not to renew their contract,” says MD Ben Drury in a statement. “In reality, ‘forever’ means for the lifetime of the device (typically 2 years) or computer they download to – users won’t be able to transfer their music to new, non-Nokia devices in the future.”

Meanwhile, Omnifone CEO Rob Lewis has welcomed Nokia’s announcement in his own statement, despite having been one of the louder critics of CWM in recent months. “Competition and innovation in this space can only be positive, helping to develop consumer appetite for mobile music services, growing the market for unlimited music, and ensuring the consumer has choice,” he says.

Naturally, both companies are looking to establish their own services’ merits over CWM. 7digital says DRM-free MP3s are better for consumers (it sells them) while Omnifone says “the quality of the user experience” will win out in the end. You can read Drury’s full statement via the Hypebot link above, and click on the link below to read Lewis’ views.

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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.

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It’s a big month Down Under for Omnifone. The mobile music firm launched its MusicStation service with Vodafone in New Zealand last week, and today has gone live with Voda in Australia, boasting that it’s the country’s first unlimited mobile music download service.

It’s launching with a catalogue of over a million tracks, and will cost AU$2.75 a week ($2.30). All four major labels are on board, along with local firms Destra, Shock, Liberation Music and All Killer, among others.

“Today’s announcement is a huge leap forward for the Australian music industry,” says Karen Paterson, head of Live services at Vodafone Australia. At launch, the service works on eight handsets only, according to Vodafone’s website.

A couple of weeks ago the Financial Times reported that Sony Ericsson is to launch an unlimited music service to rival Nokia’s Comes With Music. Now another report has come from CNet claiming that the service will go live as early as next week. Sony Ericsson has, according to ”recording industry sources” partnered with UK firm Omnifone, which powers (more…)