CANNES, France — Omnifone, a provider of cloud-based music services announced a deal on Sunday, Jan. 23 with German collection society GEMA to license Sony’s cloud based music service “Music Unlimited Powered by Qriocity.” The new music service, which launches this weekend, is the first legal global subscription model in Germany and will be available on a range of Sony platforms including BRAVIA TVs, Blu-ray disc players, PlayStation 3 systems and VAIO computers.
As reprted yesterday on Billboard.biz, Sony’s Qriocity launched a massive promotional campaign at this year’s MIDEM and is hoping to compete with Apple iTunes for digital music dollars.
Omnifone is the world’s leading independent provider of cloud-based unlimited music services for consumer electronics vendors, ISPs, automotive and mobile companies including the likes of Sony, HP, Sony Ericsson, Vodafone, and Hutchison, all of whom are rolling out Omnifone’s unlimited music services globally.
“This landmark deal negotiated with GEMA for Sony by Omnifone brings the cost of subscription based music licensing in Germany into line with the rest of Europe for the first time,” said Jeff Hughes, CEO of Omnifone in a statement.
“We are very pleased about the successful agreement with Omnifone. The signing of the contract illustrates that it is possible after all to license innovative business models in the field of online,” said chairman of the Executive Board of GEMA, Dr. Harald Heker.
“Omnifone’s groundbreaking license agreement with GEMA enables Sony to roll out the first fully-licensed, cloud-based, unlimited music service in Germany that delivers a great consumer experience and ensures German publishers and composers are fairly compensated for the music accessed by subscribers,” said Tim Schaaff, President of Sony Network Entertainment.
GEMA’s Heker went on to say that the agreement between Omnifone and GEMA will allow other subscription-based music services easier access to the German market as well as generate new revenue streams for artists.