UBC Media Group, the U.K.-based radio program-production company, is commercially rolling out CLIQ, its mobile-to-PC music retail service for commercial-radio listeners.
CLIQ, which has a soft launch on January, is centered on a free software application that is downloadable via any mobile network to Java-enabled handsets, which covers 85% of cellphones in the United Kingdom.
Users dial a short code number to receive a personalized identification number and the software. Once the software is installed on the handset, users gain access to a list of radio stations that have agreed to be affiliated to the service.
Currently, 23 stations (the estimated 200 nationwide) have signed up for CLIQ, including Global Radio Media’s Heart and Galaxy networks, Guardian Media Group’s Real, Century and Smooth networks, and London-based adult contemporary station Magic 105.4.
If users hear a song they like, they can select the station for a playlist, choose the song and purchase it. The track costs £1.25 ($2.48), and is powered by U.K.-based digital music firm 7Digital Media. The song is sent to the cliqradio.co.uk website for downloading to a PC.
“Our proprietary technology allows us to plumb into radio stations’ live output system and is able to extract exactly what is being played on air,” Pascal Grierson, CLIQ’s content and commercial director, tells Billboard.biz. “What makes us different is that we’re a radio service, not another music download service; we’re exclusively oriented and dedicated to radio.”
As more stations join the platform, CLIQ hopes to develop a download chart that will be based on sales via its network.
