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Cingular Wireless Launches Mobile Music Subscription Service

Posted on: Thursday, 2 November 2006, 15:00 CST

Cingular Wireless is launching a new online music service in partnership with Napster, XM Satellite Radio and Yahoo, which will let subscribers listen to music on their mobile phone.

Incorporating Windows Media Digital Rights Management into select handsets, the Cingular Music service enables one-click access to a suite of music-related content including songs, videos, and news.

"Cingular Music is our answer to a fragmented marketplace that until now has not fully taken into account the user experience," says Jim Ryan, vice president of consumer data services at Cingular Wireless.

The company said that Cingular Music offers the widest selection of music content in the industry today, including integration with Napster and Yahoo! Music, as well as support for other music stores. The service also seamlessly integrates with eMusic, which sells tracks in the universally compatible MP3 format.

For a monthly subscription price of $14.95 a month, Cingular customers can fill and refill their phone by connecting their Cingular phone to their PC and downloading tracks from among Napster's more than two million songs.

Additionally, from their mobile phone, customers can access Napster Mobile and browse the entire Napster catalog, listen to 30-second samples, rate songs, and recommend music picks with friends. And, for $0.99, consumers can also buy songs on the handset for delivery to the PC for side-loading later.

Cingular also teamed with XM Satellite Radio to offer mobile access to audio streams of 25 commercial-free music channels. Through XM Radio Mobile, Cingular customers can listen to a variety of music virtually anytime, anywhere for $8.99 a month.

"Analysts are now projecting that half of all cell phones sold by the end of 2007 will offer music capabilities, which will substantially enhance the experience for wireless customers and be a great growth engine for digital music adoption," said Chris Gorog, Napster's chairman and CEO.

Source: Datamonitor

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