Band Launches Single on UK Mobile Network

TechNewsWorld reports that the Anglo-Italian band "Planet Funk will release the single "Stop Me" on May 8 over mobile media company 3's network in the U.K." According to the article, the band "also found success releasing the single on 3's sister music service in Italy. The track will now be available exclusively to 3's 3.5 million customers in the UK."

3 will be promoting the single with "a dedicated microsite offering information on the band, competitions and free downloads. The track will also be seeded as a free dial-tune available to 3 customers, so anyone calling them will hear the track while they are waiting for the phone to be answered." Fans "can download the full-length audio track to both their mobile and PC with one single purchase in what 3 calls a "dual-download" system."

In-Stat Analyst David Chamberlain said, "This [promotion] points out 3's ability to do full track downloads versus just ringtones. It gives customers an idea of what the other multimedia capabilities are."

The article claims 3 has sold one million full track downloads in just four months and "sales already account for 3.7 percent of the combined singles chart and 7.5 percent of the download chart this year." Chamberlain added, "If the carriers are trying to ensure that every song from one of their handsets goes over their wireless network they could bring this whole music phone concept to a screeching halt, but this sort of promotion serves an immediate need." He noted that "it could train people to download music from mobile phones in much the same way that Solitaire trained Windows users how to use a mouse."