Cricket spinning off Muve Music, will license service to rival operators

February 26, 2013 | By Jason Ankeny

Leap Wireless' (NASDAQ:LEAP) Cricket Communications subsidiary will spin off its popular Muve Music service and begin licensing the platform to other mobile operators across the globe.

Cricket will establish a standalone Muve Music unit because it believes operators will find the service more attractive if they are not forced to license it from a rival carrier, Leap Wireless EVP of Strategy Bill Ingram told GigaOM. Ingram said the spinoff will offer the Muve Music distribution, discoverability and licensing platform as a managed service, giving carriers flexibility to rebrand the service and establish their own pricing rates and packages. He added that one international agreement is already in place, but declined to name the carrier in question.

Muve Music, launched in 2011, allows customers to download an unlimited number of songs onto their Cricket phones. The carrier offers tracks from labels including Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment. In the fall of 2012, the carrier extended the all-you-can-eat service to all Android rate plans, which start at $50 per month. Muve Music was previously offered exclusively as part of Cricket's $65 flat-rate monthly package.

Last month, Cricket told FierceMobileContent there are now more than 1.1 million Muve Music subscribers. Spokesman Greg Lund said the average user downloads more than 100 songs per month and listens to over 20 hours of music per month, adding that hip-hop and Latin are among the most popular genres.

For more:
- read this GigaOM article