BROWSING: Warner Music
Icahn puts $50M into Motricity
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Mobile content company Motricity Inc. once again added to its bank account, raking in $50 million in equity funding from controversial investor Carl Icahn.Motricity, which provides and delivers mobile content for carriers and media companies, named Icahn's son Brett to its board of directors...
Mobile music fails to find its rhythm
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In these early days of mobile entertainment, full-track download services are a bit like the weather: everyone complains about them, but no one seems to be doing much about them.While carriers such as Sprint Nextel Corp. and Verizon Wireless have claimed success hawking tunes...
Emerging opportunities: Industry looks to Africa, Asia, South America for growth
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BARCELONA, Spain-The show is in Spain, but last week's 3GSM World Congress was all about emerging markets in Africa, Asia and South America.After rising by an average of 25 percent for the last three years, global handset growth will slow to a 13-percent clip...
Helio hopes to count 250,000 customers by end of this year: Launches music service to fuel growth
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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 operators.The company ended last...
Helio burns through $200M in 2006, expects 100,000 customers by Q2
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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 70,000 customers, according to...
Sony BMG and Warner Music invest in Chinese mobile download market
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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 Melodeo Inc. and Access...
Nellymoser calls up new CEO
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Mobile content company Nellymoser Inc. tapped Susanne Bowen to replace founder John Puterbaugh as CEO.Bowen most recently served as CEO of Webhire Inc., a Boston-based talent-management software firm, and has held senior executive positions with Workscape, Entex Information Services and JWP Information Services. Puterbaugh...
Warner Music snags two new distribution deals
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Warner Music Group struck its second mobile deal in as many days, announcing an agreement to distribute videos through MobiTV Inc. The music company said it will offer made-for-mobile videos including artist-created clips from Linkin Park and other Warner acts. The videos will be...
Motorola to offer Warner Music Group content
jscarbo -
Motorola Inc. is jumping into the mobile music business with an effort to sell wireless content from Warner Music Group Corp.The handset maker said it will offer preloaded and downloadable full-length tunes, ringtones, ringback tones, music videos and other goodies from the record label....
Virgin Mobile USA invigorates messaging
WARREN, N.J.-Virgin Mobile USA L.L.C. announced two new services that incorporate audio and messaging. "Txt Tones" will allow users to link musical tones to text messages instead of rings. The three- to five-second sound clips can be used as an alert that a text...
Virgin Mobile USA invigorates messaging
WARREN, N.J.—Virgin Mobile USA L.L.C. announced two new services that incorporate audio and messaging. "Txt Tones" will allow users to link musical tones to text messages instead of rings. The three- to five-second sound clips can be used as an alert that a text...
Rhino rolls out classic mobile content
LOS ANGELES-Rhino Entertainment is targeting Generation X wireless users with content from classic children's television shows from the 1970s and `80s. The division of Warner Music Group unveiled Krofft Mobile, a suite of ringtones, ringback tones, video ringers and images based on programs from...
Rhino rolls out classic mobile content
LOS ANGELES—Rhino Entertainment is targeting Generation X wireless users with content from classic children’s television shows from the 1970s and ‘80s. The division of Warner Music Group unveiled Krofft Mobile, a suite of ringtones, ringback tones, video ringers and images based on programs from...
The direct approach: Content companies sidestep carriers to sell to consumers
You can call it off-deck, off-portal or off-network, but the stampede of companies looking to sell content directly to consumers is unquestionably on. Off-deck activity has long dominated the wireless market in Europe, where a lack of garden walls has encouraged subscribers to use...
Warner Music picks up stake in Japanese mobile broadcaster
LONDON-Warner Music continued to expand its digital distribution operations, acquiring a minority stake in Japanese mobile broadcasting FrontMedia. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.Warner Music Japan said it is making a capital investment in the year-old firm, which operates an Internet-based audio and...
Warner Music buys stake in Japanese mobile broadcasting firm
LONDON—Warner Music continued to expand its digital distribution operations, acquiring a minority stake in Japanese mobile broadcasting FrontMedia. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.Warner Music Japan said it is making a capital investment in the year-old firm, which operates an Internet-based audio and...
Cingular Wireless last Tier 1 to sell ringbacks
ATLANTA-Cingular Wireless L.L.C. finally joined the ringback-tone bandwagon, launching ringback music and voice clips from Warner Music Group artists. The carrier unveiled a catalog of 20-second ringback tones that can be used in place of the traditional "ring" a caller hears while waiting for...
Cingular launches ringback tones
ATLANTA—Cingular Wireless L.L.C. finally joined the ringback tone bandwagon, launching ringback music and voice clips from Warner Music Group artists. The carrier unveiled a catalog of 20-second ringback tones that can be used in place of the traditional "ring" a caller hears while waiting...
Mobile marketing space heats up
The flurry of activity in the content and messaging space continued last week as Wireless Services Corp. announced the acquisition of Mobile Media North America. Terms of the deal were not announced. WSC said it plans to merge the operations of the off-deck content...
Mobile content firms aim for sweet spot
LAS VEGAS-Mforma Group Inc. is the latest mobile-game publisher to get a makeover, dropping its name in an effort to become more consumer-friendly.The San Francisco-based developer is rebranding as Hands-On Mobile and expanding its portfolio to offer a variety of lifestyle applications in addition...
Mforma becomes Hands-On Mobile, expands market reach
LAS VEGAS—Mforma Group Inc. is the latest mobile-game publisher to get a makeover, dropping its name in an effort to become more consumer-friendly. The San Francisco-based developer is rebranding as Hands-On Mobile and expanding its portfolio to offer a variety of lifestyle applications in...
VeriSign extends further into mobile marketing with m-Qube purchase
Money continued to pour into the mobile marketing space last week as VeriSign Inc. inked an agreement to shell out $250 million in cash for wireless messaging and content services provider m-Qube Inc. M-Qube powers mobile storefronts and marketing campaigns for media companies and...
VeriSign buys into mobile marketing with $250 million m-Qube purchase
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.—VeriSign Inc. continued its spending spree, inking an agreement to shell out $250 million in cash for mobile messaging and content services provider m-Qube Inc. M-Qube powers mobile storefronts and marketing campaigns for media companies and major brands including Sony Pictures, Warner...
Fox gets deeper into content game: Even as analysts question ringtone’s longevity
Fox Mobile Entertainment is joining the ranks of wireless aggregators, unveiling a Web site that hawks music, games and images for mobile phones. But analysts say the News Corp. subsidiary may be lumbering onto a shrinking playground.Fox last week launched Mobizzo, an Internet storefront...