EMI Pacts With Thumbplay For Ringtones
Thumbplay, an online retailer of mobile
entertainment content has partnered with EMI Music to
sell ringtones from EMI’s current artists and catalog including labels Astralwerks, Blue Note, Capitol,
Capitol
Nashville, EMI Christian Music Group, EMI Televisa Music Manhattan and
Virgin. Consumers
can purchase content through both subscription and a la carte options, downloaded
“over the air” directly to the consumer’s handset, and billed directly to the
consumer’s carrier bill.
EMI’s move is part of a widening trend that finds labels cutting out mobile content middlemen and going straight to providers with deeper offerings and to obtain higher profit margins. Thumbplay has more than
50,000 pieces of mobile entertainment content under license including
ringtones, wallpapers, games and text-based services.