NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — Thumbplay ( www.thumbplay.com ), the leading mobile entertainment company in the U.S., has forged agreements with 20 new content partners for its new Thumbplay Music application. The number of tracks currently under license for the service now exceeds 8 million. Included in the latest round of content deals for the app are: Beggars Group, Merge Records, Redeye Distribution and Tunecore. The announcement comes just weeks after Thumbplay announced the service's Private Beta launch with content from Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and EMI Music as well as CD Baby, INgrooves, IODA and The Orchard. Thumbplay Music is a cloud-based, subscription music service that provides unlimited, on-demand access to millions of songs. It is a next generation music service, built by experts in mobile content delivery, to serve the rapidly growing market of U.S. smartphone users, which is forecasted to grow to 160 million people by 2013.
Thumbplay also announced that it has closed deals with: AWAL; BFM Digital; DashGo; Dig Dis; E1 Music; Finetunes; IRIS; Nettwerk; Nu Urban; Oseao; Rebeat Digital; Record Union; RouteNote; Sundesire Records, Symphonic Distribution and The state51Conspiracy. Thumbplay includes more than 25,000 independent labels and more than 75,000 do-it-yourself artists.
Currently, Thumbplay Music is available by invitation-only (request at http://music.thumbplay.com) on select BlackBerry smartphones and on PCs/Macs through a downloadable Adobe AIR desktop version. The app is scheduled to launch widely to consumers within the first quarter of 2010 and will be available on Android, iPhone and additional BlackBerry smartphones.
Evan Schwartz, Thumbplay CEO and Co-Founder said, "Our goal is to offer music fans the widest selection possible – spanning every genre out there – and to provide an effortless way to discover new artists. I believe the speed with which we've been able to close deals for Thumbplay Music speaks to the strength of the app and the great need for a full service, on-demand and portable music experience."
Thumbplay Music includes its own in-app media player and boasts several compelling features, including:
The Thumbplay Music service will include a free, three-day trial of its unlimited, on-demand service. Following the trial period, subscriptions are $9.99 per month.
–by CelebrityAccess Staff Writers