Marketing & Innovation - Written by Michael Leander Nielsen on Saturday, May 24, 2008 20:34 - 1 Comment

DANISH LEADING TELCO’S NEW GROUNDBREAKING MUSIC SERVICE OFFER MOBILE AND BROADBAND CUSTOMERS MUSIC FOR FREE

Freemusic_revolution_telecommunicat

TDC, a leading provider of communications solutions in the Nordic
region, recently launched a new, ground-breaking music service that offers
their Danish mobile and broadband customers unlimited access to music
downloads from renowned local and international acts, without
additional charge.

Three of the world’s major music companies and a large number of
Danish music companies are part of TDC’s new music service called PLAY,
which launched at midnight on April 1, 2008.!

TDC’s and YouSee’s broadband and mobile customers - with the
exception of a few subscriptions types - will be able to download more
than one million tracks
from artists such as Red Hot Chili Peppers,
REM, Ida Corr, James Blunt, Anne Linnet, Bruce Springsteen, Outlandish,
L.O.C, Robbie Williams,TV2, Szhirley and many, many more.

"When our customers wake up tomorrow, we will have changed their
everyday lives. They will experience that through PLAY they are
suddenly able to download all the music they wish as a part of their
subscription from TDC or YouSee, legally and without extra charges,"
says Jens Alder, President and CEO of TDC.

At present, TDC has entered into agreements with three of the four
largest international music companies, EMI, SONY BMG and Warner Music
Denmark as well as many Danish independent labels including the MBO
group, DIGIDI, Artpeople, Clockwize, House of Scandinavia. The
agreements cover both new and catalogue releases.

Free downloads only for subscribers/customers
Under the terms of the deals, the ability to play the downloaded
tracks will expire automatically if the customer terminates their
subscription. TDC will also offer music fans the opportunity to
purchase their favourite tracks for 8dkk (approx. €1) per download.

"It took the right combination of scale and innovation to make such
a pioneering idea a reality. TDC has this combination, but fortunately
we also met people in the music industry who have also been able to see
the possibilities for PLAY," says Jens Alder.

Jens Alder explains the rationale for the launch of PLAY with the
fact that both the mobile and broadband market are more or less
saturated, and that there is a need for new thinking for telcos to
attract more customers.

"Today it is not enough just to offer a smart cell phone or a fast
broad band access line. Therefore, we are investing in making music
available to our customers, and we believe that we will benefit from it
financially and get more satisfied customers," he says.

PLAY is a unique concept and rumours about PLAY have lately been appearing in the international media.

"PLAY is the most important strategic move for TDC in many years. We
are setting a new course for the broadband and mobile industries, as we
offer our customers unique access to digital music this is an important
step in the fight against piracy that has troubled the music industry
for many years," says Jens Alder.

Further comments:

Michael Wermuth, General Manager, EMI Music
Denmark, says "It is one of our most important missions to make it as
easy as possible for the Danes to access our artists’ music. PLAY is a
fantastic initiative which adds even more possibilities to the music
palette".

Jonas Siljemark, President, Warner Music Nordic,
says "By offering the PLAY service as part of their mobile and
subscription packages, TDC will offer a highly innovative way for their
customers to explore and discover music from our local and
international acts. A service of this nature has the potential to
connect our artists with audiences across a vast spectrum of musical
taste and consumer behaviour".

Niels Bak, manager of KODA, says "Much has been
said and written about making music flow like water through ‘pipes’ -
TDC is the first telco however to create a music service which makes it
easy and legal for their broadband and mobile costumers to enjoy music
without extra cost. We are happy to be part of the project and proud
that we have succeeded in giving TDC access to a majority of the
world’s music in one agreement. It is noteworthy that TDC has made a
significant effort to include the Danish music, which will be
beneficial to those many thousands of Danish artists who are members of
KODA".

Henrik Daldorph, General Manager SONY BMG MUSIC
ENTERTAINMENT DENMARK A/S and chairman of the Danish ifpi: SONY BMG
sees PLAY as a fantastic initiative for both music lovers, artists and
music labels. Play will undoubtedly strengthen the digital distribution
of music and bring Denmark at the forefront of development of a new
music market".



1 Comment

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Philip Davis
May 25, 2008 4:35

How much do the labels and publishers make out of this deal? Obviously more than they are making from illegal downloads, so I assume they have decided to compromise on their revenue share or MRG (minimum revenue guarantees) which they are so keen on. So does anyone know how much they have compromised…. and are they seeking the same deals worldwide?

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