Peer to peer pioneer Napster and wireless wizard Ericsson announced plans to develop a wireless downloading service. The plan is to integrate Ericsson’s digital music service and Napster’s digital download expertise into a strong plan for wireless users.
The two companies plan to go live in Europe first, in the next twelve months and will be offered to selected services in Europe. North and Latin America, Asia, and Europe will all have operators in selected markets. The press release said it would accommodate mobile operator participation in all revenue streams.
Chris Gorog, Napster’s Chairman and CEO said, “Ericsson’s world-leading wireless and telecommunications solutions experience, along with their exceptional client base, make them the ideal partner to deepen Napster’s presence in the global mobile arena”.
Carl-Henric Svanberg, President and CEO of Ericsson, agrees with Gorog’s statement: “With Napster we are uniquely positioned to deliver the easy to use, complete suite of music offerings our customers are asking for”.
“We gain access to the biggest digital music brand in the world and exposure to the largest music catalog available, which will not only increase our customer’s consumer offerings and revenues, but substantially strengthen their own brand image as well,” he says.
The service will allow mobile operators to seize growth opportunities for personalized digital entertainment on the mobile phone and PC and will also encompass ring tones, master tones, images, wallpaper and video content.
One of the biggest questions is whether or can and will take advantage of these services. The incentive will certainly be there on one level as iTunes teams up with Motorola and Nokia has announced support for the iTunes format on some of their new phones.
Wireless providers will certainly want a piece of the pie but the real question would be whether or not it would be more profitable to go with a service like Napster or approach the music industry themselves. Ericsson themselves already offer a service of sorts and the new service will be built with that design in mind.
John Stith is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
