Sony Ericsson confirms PlayNow plus music service

Sony Ericsson officially launched PlayNow plus, its much-rumored [1] unlimited music download service. Created in collaboration with digital music service provider Omnifone, PlayNow plus will offer all-you-can-eat access to millions of DRM-free tracks from the four major labels (EMI, Sony BMG, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music) as well as thousands of independent labels--subscribers may recommend content to fellow PlayNow plus users, and when their contract expires they may keep a number of tracks from their favorites list, although Sony Ericsson does not specify how many songs consumers may retain.

Expected to debut commercially via Swedish operator Telenor during the fourth quarter, with additional global rollouts on tap for early 2009, PlayNow plus will arrive integrated with a special edition of the Sony Ericsson W902 Walkman device--the handset maker said it plans to preload up to 1,000 recent hits on each phone. In tandem with the launch of the music service, Sony Ericsson will also extend its PlayNow arena [2] multimedia service to the U.K., the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Switzerland by year's end.

For more on PlayNow plus:
- read this release [3]

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