Comes With Music

Meet the Man Behind Beyond Oblivion, the Latest High Stakes Digital Music Bet

Peter Kafka in Media on March 10, 2011 at 9:12 am PT

CEO Adam Kidron’s idea isn’t new–Nokia already tried bundling music with devices and failed. But he’s been able to convince some blue-chip backers, including Rupert Murdoch, that he can get it right this time.

Another Music Service You Didn't Pay for Shuts Down

Peter Kafka in Media on January 18, 2011 at 8:20 am PT

Here’s another swing and a miss by the big music labels: “Comes With Music,” a plan to bundle free music downloads with Nokia phones, is going away.

Cricket Wireless’s All-You-Can-Eat Music Plan Stumbles on Way to the Buffet

Ina Fried in Mobile on January 6, 2011 at 6:00 am PT

The prepaid cellular service company says that it is taking a little longer to launch its Muve music server as it works to iron out some software bugs. Cricket still hopes to launch in Las Vegas later this month and in nine additional markets in February with a goal of expanding to all its cities by the spring.

Little-Known Cricket Wireless Tries a New Take on Subscription Music

Ina Fried in Mobile on December 19, 2010 at 9:00 pm PT

Bundling a music subscription into other goods and services has been tried a lot, mostly without success. However, Cricket Wireless is hoping to succeed where many others have failed. It’s launching a service next month that includes music downloads in the cost of prepaid cellphone service. For $55 a month, customers get unlimited text, talk and Web, plus all the music they can cram onto the phone.

A Veteran of Big Music Explains Why Big Music Is Doomed

Peter Kafka in Media on February 9, 2010 at 3:30 am PT

A former Universal Music executive, now headed to Yahoo, explains concisely why his former employer and the other big guys are just playing out the string: CD sales are wasting away, and the digital boost they were counting on simply isn’t big enough.

Nokia’s Warning Sounds Bad for the Music Business

Peter Kafka in Media on November 14, 2008 at 11:22 am PT

Mobile giant Nokia’s dire warning today–its fourth-quarter sales will be below expectations, and it sees the overall industry contracting in 2009–didn’t just scare investors in mobile/wireless stocks. It also discouraged beaten-down executives in the music industry, who have been hoping that the mobile business will help them crawl out of a very deep hole.