hypebot

Sirius Launches iPhone App Sans Stern

Sirius XM has released a long due official iPhone and iPod Touch app. The service is free for Sirius XM subscribers and $3 a month for others. 120 channles of news and music from Sinatra to Sprinsteen are covered, but missing from the mobile device lineup is some major league sports, NASCAR and...Howard Stern. 

Sirius XM did not comment on why Stern was not included or what the effect might be when tens of thousands of paying Sirius subscribers realize that other apps deliver great music for free.

iPhone Users: Older, Richer & Watching More Videos

iPhone music apps and mobile videos may soon become as important to marketing and artist whose audience skews older as it already is those whose fans are under 24.  A new Nielson survey shows that 82% of iPhone users are over 25 with 53% over 35 years of age.

Other finding of the Nielson iPhone survey include increased video viewing include:

New iPhone 3G S Comes With A Little Video Bonus For Music Marketers

Yesterday's big news was the unveiling of the new iPhone, and along with it came a nice little bonus for those who sometimes market music via video.

Sure its great that Apple lowered the price on the basic 8G model to $99 making the cool to own iPhone more affordable for your average starving musician.  But the real news...

mSpot Signs Up 6M For Paid Mobile Entertainment

Mobile music and entertainment company mSpot announced this morning that it has surpassed the 6 million mark in total paid users - a 150% increase since July 2008. mSpot offers mobile access to music, custom ringtones, live radio, videos and movies.  Juniper Research estimates that mobile application revenues will reach $25 billion by 2014.

mSPOT'S SUCCESS FORMULA: NO ADS + CONSTANT INNOVATION

Founded in 2004 and profitable since 2006, mSpot continues to grow despite the recession and a business model which currently does not rely on advertising.  Rather, mSpot has built its reputation and customer base by innovation and offering mobile products like mSpot Radio, mSpot Movies, Music Sync and Make-UR-Tones. In fact, the company says they are on track to reach a new high in revenue and profitability on 2009.

Recent landmarks for the mobile company include:

SayNow Connects Artists To Fans Via Voice Mail & Text Messages

Our Call Katy Perry Now post last week led us to service provider SayNow. This free service connects bands with fans via voice mail and text messages.  Rapper Soulja Boy regularly connects with 2 million opt-in fans via SayNow.

Fans get voice or text messages broadcast from participating artists and can call in to hear a message recorded by the act, leave their own...

Mobile Music $'s To Hit $5.5B By 2013, But Ad-Supported Could See Shortfalls

Despite the global recession, revenues from streamed mobile music services and full-track downloads are expected to exhibit strong growth over the next 5 years, according to a new report from Juniper Research. Combined revenues from these services are expected to more than double from $2.5 billion in 2009 to nearly $5.5 billion in 2013.

The report, however, found that those music services launched using an ad-funded model face a potential shortfall of as much as 50% to reductions in ad budgets. Other findings from the report include:

• Ringback tone revenues will exceed ringtones by 2010 as service adoption increases outside Asia
• The Far East & China will account for the largest share of mobile music revenues throughout the 2009-2013 forecast period, followed by Western Europe
• Aggregators must expand the depth and breadth of their portfolios beyond ringtones if they are to remain competitive

Apple Bans Drivetrain BitTorrent App

In what is perhaps a nod to its major label clients, Apple has banned BitTorrent application Drivetrain from its iPhone application store. "This category of applications is often used for the purpose of infringing third party rights. We have chosen to not publish this type of application to the App Store," according to Apple. But Drivetrain's developers Maza Digital disagrees...

Thumbplay Eases Mobile Sales For Indies

Mobile entertainment provider Thumbplay is introducing OPEN Pro, an online marketing tool that enables artists, labels, managers and media companies to sell digital content to mobile customers.

 From the new integrated interface, users can manage online and mobile marketing campaigns for multiple artists across multiple websites and get detailed traffic and sales reporting. Thumbplay has also added the Widgetron widget maker, an automated tool that enables the creation of widgets in custom sizes, colors and playlists. Content owners can generate income via both content sales and customer referrals. 

Thumbplay's catalog includes music, videos and games and more accessible on more than 2,500 mobile...

Rockzimity Takes Nickleback Interactive

Kansas City fans need to leave their Bluetooth and WiFi enabled phones when they go see Nickelback in concert.  Thanks to Sprint, they'll have access to Ace Marketing's Rockzimity - a mobile content delivery system - delivering exclusive Nickleback content..

Upon entering areas in and around The Sprint Center in Kansas City, fans will get a message via Bluetooth asking "Would You Like A Free Video From Nickelback?". Say "yes" and a download begins that is stored in in the phone. From there the content can be virally spread via email or Bluetooth. Fans with Wi-Fi can connect to the Nickelback via a localized network. Rockzimity was also tested successfully at Madison Square Garden and several Def Leppard shows.

Digital Music B2B Provider 24-7 Ent. Sold

24-7 Entertainment which operates 41 online and mobile music and ringtone stores in 13 European countries hs been acquired by electronics retailer Media-Saturn-Holding GmbH. 27-7 claims license with over 12,000 labels including all four major record companies.

24-7 Entertainment will remain under the management of its founders, Frank Taubert and Carl Nielsen and operate as an independent business unit. The company will continue to function as a turnkey one-stop-shop for digital distribution to retailers, telecoms, manufacturers and media companies

Mobile Music Gaining Fans Says New Study

A new KPMG and Mobile Entertainment Forum study shows that three quarters of US consumers are happy with their experience downloading and listening to songs on their mobile phone.

21% of the U.S. respondents and 30% globally have purchased songs at least once on their phones in the past year. 84% of US and 66% of global purchasers said they were satisfied with the downloading and listening experience. That's more that 3 times the 26% who were satisfied with mobile downloads in in a similar US survey in 2007. 

In what could be a boon for both advertisers and music, almost 29% of US consumers and 49% globally are also willing to accept ads on their mobile in exchange for free downloads.

Consumers also say they are more satisfied with their experience downloading and viewing video clips on...

Mobile Roadie Brings iPhone Apps To Indies

iPhone apps are experience rapod growth and adoption particularly among important influencers Now indie artists and labels can create and update their own iPhone apps without the help of expensive programmers using a new self-service platform form Mobile Roadie. Each custom app enables the content creator to instantly update subscribers'  phones with new music, photos, video, news and tour dates, as well as, to view subscriber analytics.

The Orchard Jumps On Board

Mobile Roadie iPhone app are priced at $299 plus $29 per month, but Hypebot has learned that digital distributor The Orchard has negotiated discount pricing for its member labels.

Why Own A Radio? Sirius Preps iPhone App

After several quarters of slowing subscriber growth, Sirius XM yesterday revealed that it is preparing an iPhone app that should be ready by next quarter.  No pricing details were given, but XM Sirius head Mel Karmazin admited, "It behooves us to consider every possible way to grow our subscriber base". The company is exploring streaming its content through satellite TV provider DirecTV.

Is your mobile the new transistor radio?

A Sirius XM app will have to compete with free players for Pandora who created the most popular app for iPhones. imeem chose to create their app for Google's Android mobile platform which will be used to more a variety of mobiles in the coming months. 

Broadcast radio has been pushing portable mp3 player manufacturers to add  recievers for years. But cell service and ubiquiotus wireless are dashing any hopes of an AM/FM comeback. When you find your pre-teen sneaking listening time with their iPhone under the covers after lights out, be sure to sell you Clear Channel stock.

Major Nokia Music Announcement Wednesday

Nokia is planning a major music announcement Wednesday at 10AM Central European Time according to this "Your Music Player Is Ringing" banner on the company's site. Rumors hint that Nokia is working towards taking its Comes With Music DRM free.  "We have dialogues going with all of our partners and Digital Rights Management-free (DRM-free) is also on the roadmap for the future integration of 'Comes With Music,"  admited Adam Mirabella, Nokia's director Global Digital Music Retail. Or will the event just unveil a new phone?  What do you think the announcement will be?

mSpot Opens Custom Ringtone Site With Majors

Just days after completing deals with all for major label groups mSpot has launched Make-UR-Tones which allows users to edit, purchase, and download custom ringtones directly to their mobile devices. The service is currently accessible customers of Sprint and AT&T with other carriers to be added soon.

To purchase ringtones, customers select a song from mSpot.com's 400,000 song collection, then uses an intuitive editor to select up to 30 seconds of their favorite part of the song and download the edit as a ringtone for $2.99.  The catalog include tracks from all four majors as well as Ingrooves and IRIS. mSpot also features lyrics, artist bios and recommendations.

iPhone Apps Gain Steam As Music Promo And Delivery Platform

 A growing number of artists and labels are using custom applications created for the iPhone and iPod Touch as both a promotional tool and an extension of the traditional album release.

Most recently, Universal released five similar yet customized apps for The Pussycat Dolls, Lady Gaga, Soulja Boy, The All American Rejects, and Keri Hilson. All five were created by popular mobile video service Kyte and offer behind the scenes video, news, live chat and other functions including music and merchandise purchase.

Other artists have built their own applications from scratch which add new life to traditional album offerings. Late last year Snow Patrol released an iPhone interactive album app with lyrics, artwork, photos and video as part of an Apple experiment of what could become a new format for releasing music.  For $3, fans can stream the entire catalog of indie rockers President's Of The United States via their custom iPhone/iPod touch application

More: Kyte Offers Turnkey Framework For iPhone Music Apps Creation

Kyte Offers Turnkey Framework For iPhone Music Apps Creation

Mobile video service Kyte is now offering a turnkey framework that streamlines the creation of custom music applications for the iPhone and iPod touch. Similar apps are gaining popularity both with artists and fans.  Using built in RSS feeds and links the apps deliver video, music, news, tweets, chat and links to purchase.

Interscope Geffen A&M is amoung the first labels to utilize the app creation system.   "Kyte allows us to easily deliver iPhone and iPod touch apps that connect our artists with their fans in a fully immersive, interactive experience," says Ted Mico, EVP of Digital at IGA.

More:iPhone Apps Gain Steam As Music Promo And Delivery Platform

mSpot Adds Sony Music For Custom Ringtones

Mobile entertainment provider mSpot has signed a distribution agreement with Sony to add the label group's  catalog to mSpot’s customizable ringtone offering of 400,000 songs. mSpot's Make-UR-Tones mobile application is available on AT&T, Sprint and Verizon networks and utilizes an intuitive editor to create customized ringtones from full tracks.

Sony joins EMI, Universal and Warner Music, as well as, indie distributors INgrooves and IRIS in offering custom ringtones via mSpot.

Despite Ringtone Slide Mobile Music To Hit $14.6 Billion By 2013

A sharp fall in ringtone sales will be more than offset by growth in full track downloads, streamed music services and ringback tones, according to a new report from Juniper Research which forecasts that global revenues from mobile music services will reach nearly $14.6 billion by 2013.

The report found that many of the key hurdles to mass adoption of full track services have been significantly reduced in recent months. Memory constraints and data costs have slowed adoption. These factors allied with the increasing willingness of the major labels to participate in mobile ventures as well as the proliferation of user-generated content are seen likely to push usage levels higher.

Jupiter also honored two companies as leaders in the mobile music space.  A Gold Award went to Apple for the iPhone 3G and music recognition application Shazam was recognized with a Silver Award.

Nokia's Comes With Music Adds INgrooves

The indie music catalog of digital distributor INgrooves is now also available via Nokia's Comes With Music service. Purchasers of a Comes With Music device can download tracks to both their mobile and computer through the Nokia Music Store during the first twelve months that they own it. Once the year is over, consumers can keep the music they’ve downloaded, but Windows Media based DRM does limit copying and portability.

Omnifone Plugs MusicStation "Alternative To Piracy"

Music is taking center stage as all sectors of the mobile industry search for ways to stand out in a cluttered marketplace during this week's GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. But music services provider Omniphone is using the event to tout a new service aimed squarely at the very non-mobile desktop PC.

ISPs and cable companies, who are under increasing governmental pressure to fight piracy, are being sold MusicStation Next Generation as an immediate "alternative to downloading music illegally over peer-to-peer file sharing networks". Unlike most other proposed solutions, Omnifone already has international licensing agreements for both downloads and streaming with all four major music labels. This means that the embattled ISPs could almost instantly start selling subscribers "unlimited access to a vast catalog of music to their Mac, PC or set-top box". A deal is already in place to power an unlimited music service for Sky TV.

 ANALYSIS:

Nokia's Comes With Music Comes To U.S.

The Nokia 5800 for North America’s 3G network which is enabled for the Comes With Music service will be available to U.S. retailers by Feb. 26th with the suggested price of $399 according to the Nokia Blog. It is up to the retailers how much they want to charge and with no carriers announced the usual sign up discounts seem unlikely at launch.

Nokia's Comes With Music launch in the UK has been rumored to have been met with a collective yawn from consumers.  Singapore is up next for Comes With Music and that country's users may be more presupposed to Nokia's all the music you can download concept.

Video: A Demo Of Nokia's Comes With Music

The Mobilization Of Music

A key theme at Midemnet and Midem this year is what I like to call the mobilization of music.  From services like Nokia's Comes With Music to over the air downloads to new mobile music apps, the cell phone seems to set to grab a larger piece of the music market and fan attention.

You already see it in Japan, Korea and other markets where up to 90% of all download sales happen via mobile. U.S. cell networks are just starting to catch up to our our overseas counterparts.

Mobilzation also provides an opening for companies trying to break Apple's stanglehold on players and downloads.  I've been told that there virtually no new mp3 players displayed at last week's Consumer Electronics Show, but mobile devices that handled music well were everywhere.

What does this mean for music? Eliot Van Buskirk shares his "5 Ways the Cellphone Will Change How You Listen to Music" on Epicenter. How do you think mobile will change music?

Sell Your Own Ringtones

In addition to downloads its now easy for any band to sell ringtones created from their songs. Most services require no up front costs or long term commitments. You may be tempted to dismiss ringtones as pointless for your style of music. But for hard core fans, its another way to show their support; and every time a phone rings and your song plays, it's a free viral ad for your band.

With no upfront costs and and only a small amount of time required, what do you have to loose? Be sure to sure to promote your ringtones from you web site and social networking pages. Here are a few of the

Tuneroom Finds Then Sends Songs To Mobile

MP3.com founder and serial entrepreneur Michael Robertson is at it again; this time helping to further his belief that mobile phones are the next MP3 players. Tuneroom is a music search engine designed to send songs wirelessly to any mobile phone and serve as a compliment to his previously launched Load2Mobile which wirelessly loads song collection to mobiles.

Users can browse Tuneroom from a PC and locate songs to send a phone or visit Tuneroom via any mobile phone browser and select songs to load to the phone. In both cases, songs are optimized for phone playback; then they are sent to the mobile wirelessly. There arecurrently more than 150,000 songs searchable at Tuneroom.

imeem Upgrades Android App. Adds Mobile Ads.

Social music site imeem, has added a mobile advertising platform and several upgrades to its Android, Android mobile platform. imeem is already among the 10 most popular applications for the Android and the comoany may be hoping to duplicate the adoption and advertising success that Pandora has found on the iPhone if the Android platform takes off.

Kia Motors America is the first advertiser to use the new platform for its Kia Soul compact SUV launching next spring in the U.S. New features in the upgrade, available through the Android Market, include:

• Location-based streaming featuring the most popular music in the user’s city
• Detailed artist bios
• Artist recommendations
• Seasonal stations

View an Android demo video:

V Cast Grabs Beyonce As US OTA Push Intensifies

Starting today Verizon Wireless' V Cast is the first and only place to download tracks from the new Beyonce alter-ego album. I Am...Sasha Fierce".

Verizon will send a video MMS with a personalized message from Beyonce directly to subscribers, enabling them to be the first to download and purchase ringtones, ringback tones and full songs from the album. Fans can also text "BEYONCE" to 8901 to download the exclusive titles directly to their mobile phones.

As much as this is a gimmick to draw attention to Beyonce's release it is also designed to  draw attention to the ease and convenience of over the air (OTA) downloads. In Korea and Japan direct to phone music sales dominate. Arcaic but improving mobile infrastructure in the US has slowed adoption here, but Verizon and other carriers are determined to speed up the pace.

Google's Android Gets iPhone Like Music Treatment

The first phones powered by Google's Android open mobile platform are just becoming available and online music providers are already planting the flag with applications and hopes of success stories like iPhone provided Pandora and others.

• imeem for Android offers free streaming music and personalized radio. (more)
• Shazam offers an application that that recognizes a song, enables purchase on Amazon and connect with the artist on MySpace. (more)
• MySpace Mobile is offering an Android music application of its own. (more)
• Amazon MP3 also has an Android download application.

All of the applications will be offered as free downloads via the creators web sites and the Android Market.

Video: Hands On Nokia's Comes With Music

via Music Ally