Sony Ericsson goes with Gracenote for mobile music

Sony Ericsson has tapped Gracenote to power a sideloading-enabled mobile music platform.
The new platform includes features such as search and discovery, song identification and playlisting, and is designed to allow the easy transfer of tunes between home music libraries, online music stores and mobile phones. Users can search for music by typing in an artist, song, album or lyrics, and can use the search listings to learn more about the song, purchase a ringtone or full track or share music with a friend.
The service also includes a recommendation engine. The move is a major win for Gracenote, which said Sony Ericsson will embed the offering on all its music-enabled handsets starting with the new Walkman models W910, W960 and the K850 Cyber-shot.
This is just the latest effort on Sony Ericsson’s behalf in mobile music; the handset vendor has leveraged Sony’s Walkman brand to a large extent throughout its handset efforts. Sony Ericsson also uses Gracenote to power its PlayNow service, which is part of the manufacturer’s M-BUZZ initiative.
Gracenote’s technology is used by online services including iTunes, Yahoo Music and Winamp. The company’s mobile partners include Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Musiwave as well as carriers such as Japan’s KDDI and Korea’s KTF.
“We’re integrating the experience between the PC, the handset and the storefront to really bring a new level of usability and enriched experience to the mobile music customer,” said Jim Hollingsworth, senior VP of sales and marketing for Gracenote. “From our standpoint, we’re bringing a whole set of functionality to the consumer that they can utilize as well as a carrier-driven experience.”
In other mobile music news:
–London’s Omnifone unveiled a full-track service that provides all-you-can-eat music for a weekly subscription fee. Users can download tracks that are also stored on a centralized server, allowing the subscriber to access music if their handset is lost or replaced, and the offering includes community and music-sharing features. The service, which is poised to rival the forthcoming iPhone, leverages Omnifone’s licensing agreements with Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, EMI Music Entertainment, EMI Music and Warner Music International. The mobile music company claims 30 wireless operators have committed to offering the service; Sweden’s Telenor is the first to offer it.
–Groove Mobile also made news with an over-the-air dual download service for music videos through the operator 3 U.K. The service offers videos at about $3 each and allows users to transfer the files between mobile phones and PCs.