LONDON-Gracenote, a 6-year-old digital entertainment technology provider, has put its huge musical database to use for a song identification system for mobile users.
Earlier this year, Gracenote launched Mobile MusicID in several European and Asian markets, allowing users to identify a song by sending a brief clip over their handsets. The user is sent information about the song and artist, and-just as importantly-about how to purchase content.
Since launching the service in September, Korean carrier KTF has seen 70 to 90 percent of its subscribers use the application, according to Craig Palmer, Gracenote’s president and chief executive officer. Of those, he said, 20 to 50 percent have purchased something through the service.
“We’re already seeing the tremendously addictive qualities of these services blow away typical customer adoption and purchase rates for mobile services,” said Palmer, “and these offerings are only in their earliest stages.”
Gracenote plans to launch two new services this week, including its Media Manager, which will allow handset manufacturers, operators and service providers to market the transfer of music from PCs to handsets. The transfer could be made via a USB port or a wireless connection like Bluetooth.
While digital rights management issues continue to threaten consumers’ abilities to transfer digital music files, Palmer said most music fans will use such applications for content they’ve already purchased.
“(The transfer of digital music) is still wildly dominated by music you already have,” he said. “It comes from peoples’ existing music libraries.”
Gracenote said it plans to enter the U.S. market in the next few months. Last month, Shazam Entertainment teamed with Loudeye Corp. to offer a song identification application for AT&T Wireless Services Inc. customers.
Shazam is also providing the database for a new song identification offering by Verizon Wireless and created by Rocket Mobile, which is also developing an application that will allow users to mix their own ringtones.<
