Omnifone's MusicStation vs Apple’s iPhone

iPhone is now the biggest buzz in the tech world and iPhone is going to remain in the media headlines for the next few months at least. Apple is hoping that iPhone will become very popular very quickly and most probably many people will be interested to buy iPhone in the coming weeks. Some companies have targeted iPhone and yesterday I wrote about HTC’s mobile phone that has been termed as a rival of iPhone.

Today, I found a lot of news items about Omnifone's MusicStation. It seems that many Omnifone's MusicStation may become a rival of Apple’s iPhone. Actually, it will become a rival of iTune. Of course, iPhone is strongly related to iTune as all the iPhone owners will have to open an iTune account.

Washington Post reported:

Omnifone Ltd. launched on Thursday its MusicStation service that allows mobile phone users to download as many music tracks as they want for ,2.99 (US$3.97) per week. The company previewed MusicStation in February at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona.

The Swedish mobile phone subsidiary of Norwegian telco Telenor ASA is the first to offer the MusicStation service. More than 30 operators in Europe, Asia and South Africa have signed up to offer the service.

I found a news in the website of Omnifone. I am giving the news here:

Omnifone, the UK based mobile music company announces MusicStation, the revolutionary all-you-can-eat (AYCE) full-track mobile music service, goes live today, allowing mobile phone users to gain unlimited access to full music tracks

on industry-standard mobiles for a small weekly fee.

"MusicStation’s launch today heralds the beginning of the next generation of mobile music. Hundreds of millions of mobile phone subscribers worldwide will soon gain the ultimate music freedom - the ability to download and play unlimited amounts of music, wherever they are, through a fantastic easy-to-use digital music experience, which works on almost any phone," said Rob Lewis, CEO of Omnifone.

He added, “Consumers will have the ability to legally access, download and enjoy an unlimited amount of music, from an international and localised music catalogue, supported by the whole music industry, all for a small weekly fee. MusicStation users can download music, wherever they are, at any time and with no charge for data."

MusicStation goes live

The first MusicStation handsets arrived in stores today with Scandinavian operator Telenor becoming the first of many operators to make MusicStation available to its subscribers. Following this first launch in Sweden, an extensive series of additional rollouts in Europe, Asia-Pacific and Africa are imminent and due for announcement in the coming days and weeks. In each case, Omnifone will announce the launch only on the day handsets arrive in retail outlets.

As well as Sweden, Omnifone confirms it has now entered into partnerships with 30 mobile operators with networks in the following territories: Australia, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey and the UK.

Telenor CEO Johan Lindgren, said, “We are proud to win the race to be the first operator in the world to rollout MusicStation to our subscribers. Telenor has always focused on delivering cutting edge services to its subscribers and with MusicStation we can deliver a truly next generation music experience, giving our consumers the freedom to download an unlimited amount of music, wherever they are, for a small weekly fee.”

International MusicStation licensing arrangements announced with Universal Music Group, SONY BMG, EMI Music, Warner Music International and many major independent labels such as Beggars Group, Vital:PIAS Digital and leading global mobile distributor VidZone Digital Media

Omnifone today announces signed international licensing deals with all four major music labels; Universal Music Group, SONY BMG, EMI Music and Warner Music International, who are making their international and local digital music catalogues available to MusicStation users.

Rob Wells, Senior Vice President, Digital, Universal Music Group International, said, “It’s hard to imagine a more compelling music experience on mobile than MusicStation. It works on almost any phone, giving consumers the freedom to choose whatever device they want. It allows downloads wherever those consumers are, providing the freedom to access music whenever they want. And it gives users unlimited access to our and other labels’ catalogues, all for a fixed weekly fee that includes data. We welcome its rollout today and look forward to the other rollouts that are due.”

Matthew Crosswaite, Vice President of Business Development at EMI Music said, "We want to make sure that fans can always access music by EMI's artists quickly and easily, wherever they happen to be. The MusicStation subscription service gives consumers a new way of doing that, and we are very pleased to be working with Omnifone to reach millions of subscribers around the world through their mobile phone."

Pete Downton, Vice President, Business Development and Strategic Partnerships, Warner Music International, said, "As we monetise our content across the myriad of ever-developing ways that people enjoy music, mobile technology continues to present us with important opportunities. MusicStation's easy-to-use subscription service will offer consumers a compelling way to discover and explore our artists' music anytime, anywhere. Beginning with its launch in Sweden, this service is an exciting, innovative development."

Omnifone confirms it has also secured a wide selection of independent and localised content in many key territories from independent labels and distributors including Beggars Group, Vital:PIAS Digital and VidZone Digital Media.

Simon Wheeler, Director of Digital, Beggars Group stated, “We are delighted MusicStation sees the importance of securing a vast catalogue of local and independent content, to ensure that users have the widest possible selection available, at the touch of a button, wherever they are.”

“Providing our Vital:PIAS Digital’s catalogue of high quality independent music, regionalised for each MusicStation rollout, means that we can provide millions of mobile users with the tracks they want, whatever the genre,” said Adrian Pope, Head of Vital:PIAS Digital. “MusicStation provides a new and exciting way for consumers to legally access, discover and enjoy music.“

Omnifone has partnered with Musiwave to quickly bring MusicStation to market and onto music mobiles across the world. “Musiwave is proud to collaborate with Omnifone in bringing music to MusicStation mobiles world-wide,” said Guillaume Decugis, Vice President and General Manager, Musiwave. “MusicStation complements our existing music services with a differentiated mobile music subscription service that works over the air and links with our music platform.”

Omnifone today announces further consumer launches imminent in Europe, Asia-Pacific and Africa

Omnifone confirms further rollouts throughout Europe, Asia-Pacific and Africa will be announced in the next few weeks as MusicStation devices appear in retail outlets across all three regions.

Rob Lewis, CEO of Omnifone said, “We expect to be able to offer MusicStation to one hundred million phone subscribers this year. We believe that by providing consumers with the ultimate music freedom of unlimited access to music, wherever a user is, on whatever phone they buy, MusicStation is delivering the most compelling consumer proposition in digital music today.”

Robin Bloor, international IT analyst with Bloor Research stated, after reviewing the MusicStation product, "By focusing on Europe and Asia, and the key operators in these territories, Omnifone is staying focused on the markets which are expected to be the largest for digital music in the next few years.”

*Subscribers will pay a small weekly fee of 2.99 euros (or the localised equivalent) to access a comprehensive global catalogue of music drawn from all the major record labels and independents, fully localised to the local market. The price point in Sweden will be 25SEK per week.