Tag Archives: sony ericsson

Sony Ericsson unlimited music plan launch October

Sony Ericsson has today confirmed plans to offer its very own unlimited music download service, launching the service – PlayNow plus – in Sweden this year, with an international roll-out penned for 2009.

Like Nokia’s ‘Comes With Music’ service (which Nokia chiefs take pains to say will cost more money than just the handset price), Somy Ericsson’s music attempt will let users download unlimited music at a fixed rate.

The company is reaching deals with operators, under which music downloaded through the service won’t count against a users’ data plan, carriers will instead get a slice of the $15/month subs fees.
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Nokia + music industry = ‘Comes with hassle’

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Nokia’s launch of its all-you-can-eat music subscription service, Comes With Music, appears to have slammed into some unexpected hurdles – the company appears to have not yet finalised its music publishing deal – a deal it needs to offer the service legally.

Music Week reports that, while the UK will be the first territory to see the service debut on the Nokia 531D XpressMusic handset, Nokia neglected to conclude talks with music publishers before announcing the deal.

Perhaps a bigger problem is that market chatter indicates Nokia to be already paying handsomely for the right to distribute free music from such a grand catalogue – and it may be the company hasn’t included the fees from publishers, as these haven’t been agreed yet.
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Sony Ericsson sparks DRM-free music store

Sony Ericsson introduced its own digital music service, PlayNow arena, an online store selling music, games and applications free of DRM over the air.

The service is live now in Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway, with support for additional territories promised at a later date. The service launches with a claimed million tracks, though Billboard notes Universal to be the only major not yet to make content from its catalogue available through the service.
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Gartner yawns at Sony Ericsson Walkman phones

Sony Ericsson introduced its W902, W595 and W302 Walkman phones this week.

During the launch, the company’s Ben Padley, Head of music, said: “Since the launch of our first Walkman phone in 2005, Sony Ericsson has continued to pioneer a superior mobile music experience – and the 77 million Walkman phones sold to date are testament to this commitment.”

Analysts at Gartner aren’t convinced the company’s really doing enough to see off the threat from ever-cheaper, consumerr-focused smartphones, as players such as BlackBerry, Nokia and Apple move into the music device space.
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