Sony Ericsson confirms plans for unlimited download service

09:49 | Wednesday September 24, 2008

However, unlike the Nokia service which has yet to sign a deal with EMI, Sony Ericsson claims to have all four majors as well as a number of leading independents on board.

PlayNow Plus, which is powered by Omnifone, launches with mobile operator Telenor in Sweden in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Consumers who sign up will receive a Sony Ericsson W902 Walkman phone pre-loaded with 1,000 “of the most recent popular local and global digital songs”, together with “all-you-can-eat” unlimited access to millions of music tracks.

The handset manufacturer claims that it will offer fast downloads speeds, with tracks downloaded to the phone in seconds.

At the end of the user’s contract, under a function dubbed “Keep Your Favourites”, they will be able to keep a specific – if unspecified – number of their “most-played” music tracks as DRM-free MP3s.

The service, which is also integrated into Sony Ericsson’s TrackID music recognition service, is due to roll-out around the world in 2009.

“All mobile consumers want to have content on their phone, but many find the experience difficult, slow and time consuming,” says Sony Ericsson corporate vice president Lennard Hoornik.

“With PlayNow Plus, there will be no more barriers, we’re giving consumers the freedom to instantly discover, download, play and recommend all the music they want - anytime, anywhere.”

“As a mobile operator our main objective is to enable easy-to-access services to our customers. PlayNow Plus is accessible anywhere, rich in content and easy for our customers to control through the flat-rate pricing. We are convinced this service will take the mobile music experience to a new level,” adds Telenor Sweden head of marketing, consumer, Gunilla Dyrhage.

Universal senior vice president, digital, Rob Wells concludes, “We believe the combination of Omnifone’s leading edge unlimited music capability paired with Sony Ericsson’s popular range of music phones will have lasting implications for the delivery of digital music services globally. Consumers will have the ability to download, play and share music, on the brand of devices which were ultimately responsible for starting the mobile music revolution.”