26th Jun 2006 07:02
UBC Media Group PLC26 June 2006 UBC Media Group announces trial of world's first impulse purchase music downloadservice for radio London, 26 June 2006 - UBC Media Group (UBC:LN) is today announcing details ofthe first consumer trial of its digital music download (DMD) service for DABradio stations and showing the service operating live on Chrysalis Radio's 'Heart' station for the first time. The groundbreaking technology allowsreal-time downloads of tracks from radio stations as the listener hears them andis being demonstrated live today between 11am -3pm at The Hospital Club, 24Endell Street, London, WC2H 9HQ. The launch of the DMD trial comes as sales of DAB radios exceeded the threemillion mark earlier this year (source: DRDB), UK digital music sales reached£84million in 2005, and single track downloads numbered 419 million worldwide in2005 (source: IFPI). In a recent poll, 54% of 15-34 year olds stated that the radio was theirpreferred medium to discover music, and analysis shows that radio airplaygreatly affects music sales (source: Entertainment Media Research, 2006). DMDtherefore uniquely seeks to combine consumer appetite for digital radio, musicand downloading with the ability to purchase a song on impulse as it is beingbroadcast. UBC will today be sharing with analysts its business plan for the musicdownloading service which shows that it is expected to be a £93m turnoverbusiness within 6 years - with a profit of nearly £10m. Today, that would makethis service alone the third most profitable radio business in the UK. UBC's technology division, Unique Interactive, has developed the revolutionarytechnology to allow listeners to purchase tracks instantly, as they arebroadcast by digital radio stations, and to download them to mobile devices,such as digital radio enabled mobile phones that will begin to appear later thisyear. DMD broadcasts encoded and encrypted music files, alongside a radio station'saudio stream. These are cached in the mobile device and can be bought anddownloaded immediately. In addition, the track would also be simultaneouslydownloaded to a web-based music library compatible with popular music playerapplications. Consumers will subscribe to the service and top-up the amount of credit theyhave for music downloads in the same way as they would top-up a pre-pay mobilephone. They can then download tracks as they hear them with the cost directlydebited from their account. The download cost is expected to be in the region of£1.25 per track. The DMD project has brought together a group of companies at the leading edge oftechnology - Unique Interactive, 7 Digital Media, Arqiva, Chrysalis, Mi-Pay,MXR, Switch Digital, TTP and Virgin Mobile. DMD is also supported by all fourmajor record companies, the PPL and the MCPS. The consumer trial of the service will start in Birmingham at the end of Julywith 100 users being able to download music in real time from Chrysalis' HeartDAB station for a period of four weeks. Simon Cole, CEO of UBC Media Group commented: "People are buying music online - fact. People are listening to the radio ontheir phones - fact. This service allows people to buy music as they listen onthe move. You can't argue with a compelling proposition like that." Ends For more information, or to arrange an interview: Diane BarnesPortland, for UBC Media Group020 7404 [email protected] Notes to editors About UBC Media Group plc UBC is quoted on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market. The Group is the marketleader in the supply of audio content and broadcast data software to the radioindustry in the UK. In addition to the entertainment, traffic & travel andnational news services provided to commercial radio, the Group is the largestindependent producer of radio programming for the BBC and the UK's leadingsupplier of digital radio scrolling text and EPG software. The Group also hassignificant digital radio broadcasting interests including Classic Gold Digital,the nationally distributed classic hits format. It is also part of the MXRRegional Multiplex consortium. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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