It’s raining social music services these days. Back in May, rumors suggested that Apple is taking music to the cloud. It was reported that Apple would revolutionize the music market by signing agreements with all four major American music labels to offer the world’s first large scale legitimate cloud music service. Meanwhile, the Amazon Cloud Player ran into a web of legal issues in Canada and UK.
Spotify, another popular online music service, which was launched in 2006, is set to make its debut in North America, however Canada is being left out of its plans. However, there’s finally some good news for music lovers in Canada.
Telus and mobile music streaming service Rdio on Thursday announced an agreement that will give Telus smartphone customers the ability to subscribe to Rdio, an unlimited, on-demand social music service, via their existing Telus account.
Rdio, founded by the creators of Skype, is considered as one of the red-hot startups in the cloud-based music service segment. This deal would enable Telus customers to subscribe to Rdio via their Telus account. Telus calls it the ‘Direct, one-click billing’ approach where customers can create a profile, download the Rdio app, and subscribe. They can then pay their Rdio subscription fee directly through their monthly TELUS bill. The Rdio service is ad-free and is now available to its subscribers for $10 per month. Rdio has similar direct carrier billing arrangements with Verizon Wireless in the United States.
Besides desktop and Mac clients, Rdio currently provides apps for Android, iPhone, Windows Phone, and BlackBerry. Their iPad app is currently going through Apple’s approval process now and is expected to be available soon. Speculations suggest Rdio might soon integrate with Facebook, thereby getting access to an audience in the hundreds of millions. Carter Adamson, COO of the company, believes his company is well equipped to beat Spotify and other rivals as it focuses on social music discovery and not just streaming whatever music you want.
On the other hand, this deal is another indication that Telus is prepared to open up its ecosystem to third-party providers. Last month, the carrier signed an agreement that will change how its smartphone customers use Skype, including the ability to purchase Skype Credit through their Telus accounts, making it more secure and convenient for them to stay connected in Canada and abroad.
Did you like this post? TheTelecomBlog.com publishes daily news, editorial, thoughts, and controversial opinion – you can subscribe by: RSS (click here), or email (click here).
Written by: Gaurav Kheterpal. www.digitcom.ca. Follow TheTelecomBlog.comby: RSS,Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube.
{ 1 trackback }
Comments on this entry are closed.