As all the cellular operators which do not yet sell the Apple iPhone, complete with iTunes service, look around for a champion, increasingly the option is to either create your own service, as Nokia has done, or turn to Omnifone for its MusicStation service.
Now Omnifone, at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, says that it plans to partner not just cellcos but also ISPs targeting music on Macs, PCs and set tops and it is even pitching the service as a way to get around piracy.
Introducing what it calls MusicStation Next Generation, Omiphone says that by bundling a small charge on top of the ISP’s basic subscription, unlimited music downloads can be delivered with the blessing of Omniphone’s existing relationships with the four major music labels as well as thousands of independents.
Omniphone points out that the IFPI estimates that illegal peer-to-peer filesharing and music piracy accounted for 95% of music downloads in 2008 with 40 billion tracks downloaded illegally worldwide. In some European territories, peer-to-peer piracy accounts for as much as 50% of total internet traffic carried by ISPs and cable companies, so it figures that a solution to actually get some money out of it for the beleaguered ISP will be welcomed. Instead of pointing out that someone is doing something illegal and shutting them off, point it out and offer them a cheap, but legal replacement. Better still just up their rates and send them the service URL and a password.
In the UK a Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the music industry and ISPs to try to resolve the issue of illegal file sharing and other countries are either already ahead of this or are expected to follow shortly.
‘Tens of millions of European consumers are engaged in music piracy every day. While government pressure is growing, we also need to deliver alternatives that recognize the needs and desires of the YouTube generation,’ says Rob Lewis, CEO of Omnifone.
After all iTunes was born out of Steve Jobs sitting down and trying to design a process that was more enjoyable than piracy, in much the same way.
MusicStation Next Generation music powered services are expected to be bundled with monthly subscriber plans, as well as being offered to existing subscribers on a pay as you go basis.