Orange launches free music package
Orange has teamed up with Universal Music and Channel 4 to launch a new pay as you go package that offers customers free music when they top up their mobile phones.
The new initiative, Orange ‘Monkey’, will give customers free and easy access to a catalogue of songs and free texts streamed through any mobile handset and online from the end of the month.
The three partners have developed the package primarily for 16-24 year olds, with design features such as sharing playlists on social networks “mind tapping into the elements of teen and ‘twenty somethings’ lifestyle choices”.
Orange says “the free music element of the package fulfils an untapped market that is looking for a low cost, easy access music service without users having to worry about download costs or the functionality of their handset”.
The newly-created Monkey website also aims to create a community for customers to broadcast their individual playlists online and share them with other users.
As part of the deal, Orange customers will have access to exclusive Universal music, pre-release tracks and other content such as competitions, interviews and playlists.
4Music, meanwhile, will promote the Monkey service from early September across the Channel 4 portfolio and will be manage the editorial content on the Monkey website.
Tom Alexander, Orange UK’s CEO, said: “Unlike some music services which are either restricted to high-end more expensive handsets or have download costs, Monkey is for everyone. All you need to do is top up to get free music on any handset or online.
“Orange, Universal Music and 4Music will benefit from the success of Monkey – and each partner will contribute by doing what they do best. Universal Music has the best content and artists; 4Music has the best capability to reach the target audience and has the most respected editorial voice in this space; and at Orange we’ve got a great brand, great distribution and know how to develop and sell innovative mobile propositions.”
Andy Duncan, CEO of Channel 4, added: “Aligning our brands in this way works well for Channel 4 and Orange. We have a very strong relationship with young audiences and so can deliver optimum exposure to this key audience for the new Monkey service. And Channel 4 gets to extend its offering into mobile, with an exciting and innovative business model which fills a gap in the market.”