Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

RIM set to launch BlackBerry music service: report

Afp
Friday 19 August 2011 00:00 BST
Comments

Canada's Research in Motion (RIM) is developing a new service that would allow subscribers to play music on their BlackBerry smartphones, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

The option is "designed to work with RIM's BlackBerry Messenger," the newspaper reported, citing unnamed sources who had discussed the service with RIM executives.

The new service, to be known as BBM Music, could be launched "as soon as next week," and allow subscribers to access around 50 songs at one time for an as-yet unspecified price, the report said.

According to the paper, the company has already signed, or are preparing to sign, agreements with four music power houses - Vivendi Universal Music, Sony Music, Warner and EMI.

The move is aimed at attracting younger consumers to the product, which is facing tough competition from Apple's iPhone and others.

According to a study by ComScore published in July, the iPhone is now more widely used than the BlackBerry in the US market.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in