So here is how this one goes: Cingular’s PR has been lining journalists up for briefings on this “big” story (including me…I’m supposed to speak to Jim Ryan this week), and it looks like something happened in their negotiations with WSJ, or that they forgot to include the newspaper in it, and the reporters there decided to go around it..
Anyway, the news: Cingular is finally jumping into the mobile music service fray, after sitting on the sidelines as Sprint and Verizon launched their services to less than enthusiastic response. The largest mobile operator in U.S. is attacking it in a big way: partnering with some of the biggest online music services, including Napster, Yahoo Music and eMusic, the story says…userc can buy music from these online services (from their portable subscription services, not the normal online subscription service), and then transfer it to their phones. They will also be able to transfer songs ripped from CDs or downloaded in the MP3 and Windows Media formats. Next year, Cingular is scheduled to add an over-the-air downloading component.
I am surprised that Cingular would wait for the OTA side, not that they’re losing out on much. The service will also have a music recognition service, which will then send identified songs to the user’s computer/e-mail to downloading there. Clunky substitute for the impulse OTA buy, if you ask me. Meanwhile, Sprint says that it sold more than eight million songs from Sprint Music Store in the past 12 months at $2.50 per download. Verizon Wireless declines to disclose sales numbers, the story says.
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