News
Groove debuts new D2C data model
Stuart O'Brien Jun 26 2007, 10:45am
Groove has called for more labels and operators to join its D2C music trial.
Music specialist Groove Mobile today unveiled a full-track D2C service it has created for SonyBMG, having struck a landmark agreement with Vodafone UK for lower-priced data charges.
The technique is similar to the 'wholesale' data model that was experimented with in the UK last year, whereby a content provider 'buys' data from an operator up front so there are no hidden costs for the consumer.
Crucially, however, the new model means Groove doesn't buy, say, 5GBs of data in advance like in last year's Voda trial. Instead, it pays what essentially amounts to a data 'royalty' back to the operator as each track is sold.
This is meant to help avoid situations whereby content providers have to hike content prices when they realise they're not able to shift the 5GBs worth of data they bought.
Historically, D2C downloads of large files OTA have been impractical due to the prohibitive 'per megabyte' data charging models used by operators.
Groove's agreement with Vodafone means it can wrap the cost of the data up into the price of a £1.29 or £1.50 track, charged using premium SMS. Now it wants to widen the experiment.
Speaking to ME, Groove' s chief marketing officer Adam Sexton said: "We think we've managed to put together a competitive D2C offer and we're inviting other labels and operators to join us. Services like this need to be cross-carrier - there's no point in promoting track downloads at a concert, for example, if only a quarter of the people there can take part."
Sexton added that the wider trend towards flat rate data plans in the UK bodes well for the future of the D2C content channel.
Groove currently powers full-track music services for 3 UK and Sprint in the US.
