Mobile operator 3 has announced a partnership with EMI Music UK to supply full-length music tracks directly to the three million customers on their network.
Thanks to the deal, 3’s customers will be able slip on a pair of gold lycra pants and gyrate around the office to Kylie, Robbie Williams and the rest of EMI’s bulging back catalogue.
The agreement will also enable customers to access music from EMI’s other UK labels which include Parlophone, Relentless and Virgin with the “hottest and freshest” 100 EMI Music UK’s tracks made available for downloading in either WMA or AAC format (depending on the handset).
Last year, 3 became the first network to provide full-length music videos over mobiles, offering mainstream videos from Sony BMG and independent music offerings through VidZone.
In a flurry of synergetic deals, Robbie Williams launched his single “Misunderstood” on the 3 network before it had been heard on TV or radio and Natasha Bedingfield and Rooster have also streamed concerts live to 3’s customers.
Bob Fuller, Chief Executive of 3 UK, clamed that 3 was leading the way in developing the exciting opportunities of 3G mobile technology.
Dave Gould, Commercial Manager, Digital Media for EMI Music UK, added: “We’re delighted to bring EMI Music UK’s labels to 3. 3 is a leading network in bringing mobile music to their customers and we’re really excited about the possibilities of putting more great music into the hands of millions of mobile users.”
With the slap of a leather gauntlet against iPod’s shiny white face, Creative has unveiled its new Zen Vision a portable media player. 
The Zen Vision supports a slew of video codecs, including AVI, DivX, XviD, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG4-SP and Microsoft’s WMV9. 
Resplendent in its white or black finishes, the Zen is quite a looker, and is only slightly larger than the rival iPod. 
The pocket sized powerhouse comes with a rechargeable Li-ion battery offering up to 4.5 hours of video playback and 13 hours of audio, depending on the file’s format and energy settings. 
The BBC’s online coverage of Live 8 in July notched up a record volume of Web traffic on their radio and music Websites. 
The latest figures for the BBC’s online traffic also show a healthy boost in figures for their sports coverage on the Radio Five Live Website, with 910,841 unique users being recorded during June, compared with 840,019 the same period in 2004. 
It was mainly good news elsewhere, with Radio 1, Radio 2, Radio 3, Radio 4, 1Xtra, Asian Network and BBC 7 all increasing their unique users compared to the same period last year, with only 6 Music – one of our favourites – letting the side down with a disappointing slump from 418,729 to 356,564. 
MTV is in the mood to get all interactive with its audience with the launch of MTV: starzine, a new online magazine designed to give “music wannabies the opportunity to realise their dreams of becoming an MTV star.” 
In another cunning ploy to keep users coming back for more, users will earn points for interacting with the magazine and the more material they shunt online and the bigger the audience, the more points they amass. 
The all-blinking, Flash-tastic, David Carson ‘tribute’ site lets users upload unlimited images as well as text on to the magazine, with the facility to directly submit photographs taken on a cameraphone. 
Following a long tradition of The Man stealing ideas off the street to flog their products, T-Mobile is organising a series of impromptu ‘street gigs’ to promote their new Sony Ericsson D750i camera phone. 
Keen to milk every last ounce of PR potential from the gigs, T-Mobile will be broadcasting the performances online, with company bods on hand to encourage T-Mobile subscribers to test the new handset 
“T-Mobile Street Gigs is the first of our new initiatives to deliver unique experiences for customers,” grooved Phil Chapman, UK marketing director, loosening his tie and turning down the David Gray. 
Illegal music downloaders shell out more for legitimate music downloads than goody two-shoes music fans. 
How much both groups spend on CDs wasn’t specified. 
Respondents cited built-in cameras, organiser functions and video cameras above music players in their preferences for mobile phone features. 
The rurmour mill continues to hum with speculation that Apple are set to introduce a video playing iPod-like device in the near future. 
This has led to speculation that the company will be revising the iPod to create something like the ‘vPod’, a concept device created by design firm Pentagram which was published in Business 2.0 Magazine in March. 
The big problem with trying to create a multimedia device is that people demand quite different things for mobile audio and video. 
The Apple rumour mill has been cranking into overdrive over the weekend after Forbes reported that the company may be considering becoming a mobile phone operator. 
However, a report in the Sunday Telegraph yesterday claimed that Motorola will finally “unveil the first fruits of its partnership with Apple next month with the launch of its iTunes mobile phone at the V Festival.” The festival runs from 20th to 21st August 2005. 
The UK record industry trade association the BPI has revealed that download sales in 2005 have raced past the ten-million mark – almost twice the amount for the whole of 2004. 
Illegal music downloads remain a thorn in the side of the industry, but the growth in legal downloads now outstrips the growth in dodgy file sharing with Jamieson adding, “The battle against illegal files-haring will continue, but we are delighted to have hit this milestone so soon”. 
The resurgence of vinyl has been attributed to British indie and rock acts love affair with their near ancient format, with bands like Iron Maiden’s, Libertines, Babyshambles, Kaiser Chiefs and Franz Ferdinand all releasing songs on vinyl. 
The European Commission announced yesterday that it wants to give a boot up the backside of the European market for online music services by making it easier for new providers to get licences to flog songs over the Internet.