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AT&T comes in late with music downloads

31 July 2007 10:35 by Dave "Davedough" Horvath | 11 comments

Coming in way behind its US competition, AT&T has teamed up with eMusic, an independent music retailer to bring music downloads to its customer base. Trailing the efforts already in place by companies like Sprint and Verizon, AT&T takes an interesting approach at online wireless music downloads.

Coming in at about mid-range in pricing, AT&T has released information that their song downloads will cost $1.50 per Track, sitting squarely between Sprint's 99 cent deal and Verizon's $1.99 per track offering. There appears to also be a package deal where you can download 5 songs for the inflated price of $7.49.

This is a strange move for AT&T to allow only independent music to its customers as marketing strategies show that most mobile music purchases are impulse, and most impulse buys will be current billboard hits, not independent offerings. eMusic will not offer music in its catalog that is anywhere close to a mainstream billboard. Additionally, AT&T does not offer wireless music downloads to its partnered flagship, the Apple iPhone of which it has exclusive rights. Finally, the eMusic service will not work with the iPhone.

With research showing that only a scant 5% of music fans listen to the songs on their mobile phones, its interesting to see why AT&T decided to not only come into the game this late, but only offer tracks from lesser known artists at an inflated rate.

Source:
Reuters

Permalink to this article

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eMusic and AT&T on verge of DRM-free mobile download service (25 July 2007)

AT&T and Verizon betting on video services (20 July 2007)

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VoIP startup SunRocket ceases operations (17 July 2007)

Sun to provide IPTV servers to AT&T (13 July 2007)

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Discuss this article!
armorthis (Inactive) 31 July 2007 14:10
Seems pointless to me, I payed $3.50 for a This Is Why I'm Hott ring tone and I don't think I will buy another ring tone for a long time. [ + quote]
AXT (Member) 31 July 2007 15:25
Look like everybody wants to get into the online music craze nowadays. [ + quote]
borhan9 (AfterDawn Addict) 2 August 2007 15:28
I still say if you want to buy music buy the actual CD and if you want a ring tone, then buy software that can turn the song into one and then you will not have to worry about buying subscriptions anymore. [ + quote]
WierdName (Senior Member) 4 August 2007 11:40
*Originally posted by borhan9:* then buy software that can turn the song into [a ringtone] There is free software that can do that. They may not be as powerful but they get the job done. There are also sites that you can upload, edit, then download. And armorthis.... You actually paid $3.50 for a ringtone? You could have bought the whole song then used some free thing to make your own and would have saved $2.50 if you got the song from a $1 per song place. [ + quote]
Unfocused (Member) 14 August 2007 15:20
Most phones now hook right up to the computer via USB and you can just copy the songs you want right onto the phone. Motorola Phone Tools works great for about 90% of their phones. All Windows Mobile based phones are fully compatible with Windows. Nokia PC Suite has capabilities for converting and copying. I haven't used any other brands as far as a software interface, but I've been able to send files from a Nokia to a LG and have them work. All of this software is available on the web for free. All it takes is Google and a little bit of free time. [ + quote]
borhan9 (AfterDawn Addict) 15 August 2007 4:43
*Originally posted by Unfocused:* Most phones now hook right up to the computer via USB and you can just copy the songs you want right onto the phone. Motorola Phone Tools works great for about 90% of their phones. All Windows Mobile based phones are fully compatible with Windows. Nokia PC Suite has capabilities for converting and copying. I haven't used any other brands as far as a software interface, but I've been able to send files from a Nokia to a LG and have them work. All of this software is available on the web for free. All it takes is Google and a little bit of free time. Why worry about a cable and some software when all you need is a bluetooth enabled phone and a bluetooth connection on your computer. Then cables are a thing of the past. [ + quote]
WierdName (Senior Member) 15 August 2007 12:28
*Originally posted by borhan9:* Why worry about a cable and some software when all you need is a bluetooth enabled phone and a bluetooth connection on your computer. Then cables are a thing of the past. But what about the people like me who's computer is so old the motherboard has USB 1.1 on it? Cables aren't quite yet a thing of the past. [ + quote]
borhan9 (AfterDawn Addict) 15 August 2007 13:24
*Quote:* *Originally posted by borhan9:* Why worry about a cable and some software when all you need is a bluetooth enabled phone and a bluetooth connection on your computer. Then cables are a thing of the past. But what about the people like me who's computer is so old the motherboard has USB 1.1 on it? Cables aren't quite yet a thing of the past. The blutooth conection i am talking about is a blutooth connection however is gets connected to your computer via any USB port. [ + quote]
WierdName (Senior Member) 15 August 2007 13:51
*Originally posted by borhan9:* The blutooth conection i am talking about is a blutooth connection however is gets connected to your computer via any USB port. But then you do have a cable correct? So there is still the need for cables. And until they make power wireless, there will always be the infamous power cord. [ + quote]
borhan9 (AfterDawn Addict) 17 August 2007 1:10
*Quote:* *Originally posted by borhan9:* The blutooth conection i am talking about is a blutooth connection however is gets connected to your computer via any USB port. But then you do have a cable correct? So there is still the need for cables. And until they make power wireless, there will always be the infamous power cord. With the usb connection to the blutooth there is no cable connection. [ + quote]
WierdName (Senior Member) 17 August 2007 12:46
*Originally posted by borhan9:* With the usb connection to the blutooth there is no cable connection. Yes there is; the usb connection. That is what I was referring to. [ + quote]