VidZone Digital Media and Sony BMG Music Entertainment UK Announce Major Deal

VidZone Digital Media has today announced a new distribution deal which grants the company full access to the SONY BMG Music Entertainment UK digital catalogue for Mobile and PC.

The company's latest announcement will see platinum selling acts such as Justin Timberlake, Westlife and Beyonce all available for streaming and downloading in Audio and Video formats to both the PC and mobile.

The repertoire will also be offered to customers in the form of Realtones and Video Ringtones for downloading to their handsets.

[Press release]

Rngtone points to suspect

According to The Star Tribune, a robber was identified because he didn't change the previous owner's distinctive ringtone.

"Minneapolis police arrested Vantrease on Monday after finding him wearing a Teckno Master watch matching the description of watches stolen in the May 24 robbery. In addition, Vantrease had a cell phone belonging to shop owner Will Bailey, authorities said.

Although the phone no longer carried Bailey's personal information, police said, it still had his ringtones, which included N.W.A.'s seminal "Gangsta Gangsta."

Ringback boom…or bust?

Ringback tones have been available from U.S. operators for a year or two, but most carriers are using their marketing dollars to push full-song downloads rather than ringback tones. Fierce Mobile Content reports.

"... Yet, according to a recent survey from M:Metrics, ringback tones have experienced "healthy" growth over the past six months and now have a penetration rate of 5 percent. In fact, M:Metrics stats say that there were 8.4 million ringback tone subscribers at the end of March 2007, up from 2.3 million at the end of December 2005.

Interesting, ringback tones tend to appeal to an older demographic group than those who buy ringtones. Also, males are bigger ringback buyers than females."

Melodeo To Stream ITunes To Mobiles

Melodeo is testing a service which will let users stream songs from their iTunes library to their mobile phones. However, it hasn’t sorted out the revenue stream yet: “Melodeo revenue could be from monthly fees for the service, software download fees, or audio advertisements, said David Dederer, Melodeo’s vice president for music services”

[via MocoNews]

Latte Boom gets a thumbs down review from Gizmodo

Gizmodo gives Samsung's Boombox cellphone a thumbs down review.

"The tiny tiny, bar-shaped handheld is actually a cellphone. And not a good one at that. ... Call quality on it is bad, texting is difficult (due mainly to the small keypad and screen), and even as a boombox, sound isn't top notch."

India uses ''mooing'' Ringtones to catch Leopards

B>Forest guards in western India are using cell phones with ringtones of cows mooing, goats bleating and roosters crowing to attract leopards that have wandered into human settlements, reports I4U.

"The wild cats in the state of Gujarat often roam into villages near forests in search of food, say officials, adding that this results in attacks on people.

But rather than use methods such as live bait like goats tied to trees to lure the leopards, which then fall into large pits dug by guards, officials say they have found a safer method to trap the cats.

Vasani said forest guards have downloaded the sounds of over a dozen animals as ringtones on their mobiles which they attach to speakers and fix behind a cage.

They then play the ringtone continuously for up to two hours until the curious leopard appears and moves into the cage looking for its easy meal.

Five leopards have so far been lured from villages since the new ringtone method was introduced a month ago. The cats have all been released back into forest areas."

How country music fans buy their music

Country music fans are making their music purchases on the basis of factors other than the playlists on terrestrial radio. Although often misconstrued as a consumer group that lags behind technology trends, today's country fans are exploring new music via Web sites, satellite radio, cell phone ringtones and user-driven music video channels on television.

[via Chicago Sunday Times reporting on this week's annual CMA Music Festival]

Prince next single free to mobile phone listeners

Prince is giving away the first single from an upcoming album to mobile phone users as the rock star, who is also launching a perfume, looks to create a buzz around his "Planet Earth" album, due out in weeks. Reuters reports.

""Similar to David Bowie's involvement with a Nokia phone launch last year and Paul McCartney's plan to publish an album through Starbucks, Prince's latest stunt is part of a trend for long-established musicians to try to interest new fans in their latest music by aligning themselves with the next new thing.

Prince's new single "Guitar" became downloadable on Thursday to Verizon Wireless phones to customers who use the service provider's new V Cast song ID feature, which identifies songs for listeners who hold their phone next to a speaker."