Vodafone says it has the largest base of paying music subscribers in Europe, with more than 450,000 signed up to its service.
Vodafone, the world's biggest mobile-phone company, says it has the largest base of paying music subscribers in Europe, with more than 450,000 signed up to its service.
The London-based company has agreements with the world's largest record companies such as Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment to offer unlimited music and bundles of songs for a monthly fee, it said today.
As sales of CDs decline and online piracy of music increases, the music industry is relying on new streams of revenue, such as unlimited music via mobile phones, to revive profit.
"We expect to see continued growth in our music service subscriptions driven by the increase in smartphone use, with their worry-free data tariffs and great value add-ons such as music bundles," Lee Epting, Vodafone's director of content for internet services, said.
Vodafone said it signed up more than 100,000 customers in December. The service offers more than 2 million tracks that can be played on phones, on computers and on digital music players such as iTunes.
Bloomberg
