UBC Announces Digital Music Downloading Launch

UBC Media announced its new Digital Music Download commercial service will go live in London Q1 2007, with a full national launch in May 2007.

The new technology, which Simon Cole announced last year at MediaTel’s Digital Radio seminar (see New Technology Offers Glimpse Of Radio’s Future), enables digital radio listeners to download tracks from radio stations as the listener hears them. The music files are then delivered to the user’s home internet account, however UBC expects this technology to extend to include 3G mobile devices during 2007, including Virgin Mobile’s Lobster 700 TV phone, which is compatible with the BT Movio service (see BT Announces Partners For Mobile TV Service).

Following a successful trial in Birmingham with Chrysalis-owned Heart 100.7, the Digital Music Downloading (DMD) service will be launched nationally in May 2007, with at least four radio stations in each major market being enabled to offer the service to their listeners.

Stations taking up the unique technology are expected to include Heart from Chrysalis, Smash Hits and The Hits from Emap, Smooth from Guardian Media Group and Classic Gold Digital which UBC jointly owns with GCap.

Commenting on the launch, Simon Cole, CEO of UBC Media, said: “We are now in a position where the pieces of the DMD jigsaw are in place. We know there is a demand for DMD, our trial this summer demonstrated this, the logistics of delivery are almost finalised, and I am delighted that we have now got every key player in the radio and music industry on board to ensure the successful launch of the service next year. This is digital radio’s killer application.”

Simon Cole is speaking tomorrow as a panellist at MediaTel’s Future of Radio seminar. A handful of tickets are still available for the event; to book tickets, please click here

UBC Media Group: 020 7453 16001 www.ubcmedia.com