Sony BMG

Nokia Corp. isn’t the only player looking to offer devices that come with music.The Finnish manufacturer raised eyebrows late last year when it teamed with Universal Music Group International to unveil Comes With Music, an ambitious program that will package …

Nokia Corp. bulked up its music offerings, inking a deal with Sony BMG and adding two new handsets to its XpressMusic line.The Finnish company said Sony BMG has joined its Comes With Music offering, a program that packages one year’s …

Mobile entertainment firm Thumbplay Inc. will bulk up its content portfolio thanks to a new pact with Sony BMG Music Entertainment.The New York-based, direct-to-consumer aggregator said it will add 7,000 goodies including ringtones, music videos, voice clips and mobile games …

Editor’s Note: Welcome to On the Margins, a feature for RCR Wireless News’ weekly e-mail service, Mobile Content and Culture. Every week, the RCR Wireless News staff considers events in the wider business world and how they could affect the …

With ringtone revenues in decline and full-track downloads struggling to find an audience, carriers and third-party vendors are working furiously to breathe life into a withering mobile music industry.Ringtones for years have been the most popular type of content on …

Editor’s Note: Welcome to On the Margins, a feature for RCR Wireless News’ new weekly e-mail service, Mobile Content and Culture. Every week, the RCR Wireless News staff considers events in the wider business world and how they could affect …

Record labels and carriers are looking for creative ways to keep the lucrative ringtone party alive. But a handful of startups have taken a cue from music group REM, asking, “Why don’t we give it away?”Ringtones for years have been …

In another move indicative of the music industry’s increasing frailty, two of its largest players are trying some new twists: Sony BMG Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group last week announced a new format they’re calling the “ringle.”Each ringle will …

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 …

MobiTV bulked up its content library with a deal to license more than 2,500 music videos from Sony BMG Music Entertainment.The wireless video provider said it will put the videos into rotation “immediately” on its music channels, expanding its portfolio …

The mobile gaming world is targeting mass-market users with “one-thumb” casual offerings that are simple to understand and easy to play. But one Orlando developer is hoping to find an audience with a line of sophisticated games that use GPS …

Mobile virtual network operator Helio L.L.C. said last week that it expects to reach the 100,000-customer mark by early in the second quarter and launched a full-track music download service to compete with similar offerings from rival MVNOs and traditional …

Helio L.L.C. expects to reach the 100,000-customer mark by early in the second quarter, and its subscribers have been generating average revenue per user of more than $100 per month, the mobile virtual network operator said.The company ended 2006 with …

Sony BMG Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group are backing an effort to provide full-track mobile music downloads to Chinese subscribers.The companies announced a strategic investment in Access China Media Solutions, a joint venture between U.S.-based digital content delivery company …

While most mobile-game makers are targeting mass-market users with casual one-button offerings, boutique developer Your World Games Ltd. is hoping to find an audience with a line of sophisticated, location-aware games.The Orlando, Fla.-based startup is putting the finishing touches on …

IN THE BLEAK WORLD of digital rights management, wireless service providers may actually serve as a beacon out of the darkness.But don’t count on it.Anti-piracy software may be nearing a crossroads. A handful of record labels are beginning to experiment …

NEW YORK—Motorola Inc.’s iRadio service is the latest to woo music lovers with unreleased content, with the vendor inking a deal with Sony BMG to allow subscribers to access “leaked” albums before they hit the shelves. The music company has …

CHICAGO-McDonald’s franchisees John and Karen O’Keefe watched sales flatline for most of the year at their store in Chicago’s suburban Woodfield Mall while other restaurants in the fast-food chain’s system pulled in gains of 2 percent or better. But after …

By Kate MacArthur CHICAGO—McDonald’s franchisees John and Karen O’Keefe watched sales flatline for most of the year at their store in Chicago’s suburban Woodfield Mall while other restaurants in the fast-food chain’s system pulled in gains of 2 percent or …

Here’s what got the edit staff fired up this week: Did you see RCR Reporter Colin Gibbs’ story about Sprint Nextel selling ad space on its mobile Web service? Like it promised, Sprint Nextel is transforming itself from a wireless …

LOS ANGELES–Starwave Mobile announced new licensing deals and a move to sell content directly to consumers. Starwave Mobile gained licensing rights from Beyonce Inc. and Sony BMG to develop and publish a mobile game around the singer. Expected to launch …

And welcome to a special CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment 2006 edition of our column, Worst of the Week. There’s a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry—especially at trade shows—so this column is a chance for …

More than 15,000 people are expected to converge on Los Angeles as CTIA kicks off its Wireless I.T. & Entertainment show next week. RCR @ CTIA Click here for complete coverage of the CTIA Wireless I.T. show. Click here for …