Independent-music retailer eMusic has teamed up with AT&T to release an over-the-air music-download service where consumers can download music directly to their mobile phones.
The eMusic over-the-air service will give AT&T’s customers the ability to preview and purchase music through wireless devices from a catalog of 2.7 million songs. This new service is part of the AT&T Mobile Music platform that lets its 63.7 million subscribers download music for a fee.
“The mobile marketing world is like the Wild West and it’s clear that there is a growing demand for content here,” said Reid Genauer, vice president of consumer marketing at eMusic, New York. “We think that by partnering with the country’s leading mobile provider we will be able to interact with a large audience.”
Songs purchased from eMusic Mobile are immediately sent to the user’s wireless handset, and a duplicate copy is available for download to the user’s PC at no charge. AT&T customers can subscribe to download five tracks a month for $7.49, and additional packages of five songs are available for the same price whenever desired. Artists in the eMusic catalog include Paul McCartney, Miles Davis, Spoon and Arcade Fire.
EMusic Mobile will be initially available on some of AT&T’s music devices, with many to be added in the future. Users of the Samsung a717, a727, new versions of the Samsung SYNC and the Nokia N75 will be able to access the eMusic wireless store by clicking on the music note key, choosing the Shop Music option and then selecting eMusic.
The new eMusic service works in conjunction with AT&T’s existing mobile music offerings, such as subscriptions to Napster. The eMusic sideloading feature, in which AT&T users can download music to their PC and then load it onto their mobile phones, is still available.
