UK startup will let users pay 1p-per-track to stream songs they don't own, on top of its existing locker storage service.
UK startup Psonar has launched a new Pay Per Play streaming music service, although the major labels have yet to sign up. The service lets users listen to full-length tracks that they don't own for 1p per play, with no advertising or monthly subscription required.
They can also pay to give tracks to friends as gifts, paying for a certain number of plays. Playlists can be posted to Twitter and Facebook, too.
Psonar is using Bango billing to charge users directly to their phone bills, although PayPal and credit cards are also accepted. Psonar is planning a 'rolling launch' for the service across Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland and Scandinavia during the second quarter of this year.
It works on desktop computers, and also on HTML5-capable mobile devices. Native BlackBerry and iPhone apps will launch in Q2, with other smartphones to follow.
What songs are available? Psonar's launch partner is The Orchard, a digital music distributor whose clients are independent labels and artists. However, that means for now, no major label acts' songs will be available on a pay-per-play basis.
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The new Pay Per Play offering sits on top of Psonar's existing cloud storage service, which lets people store their digital music collections on its servers and access it from other devices.
"Psonar aims to answer the digital music dilemma where users are forced to choose between expensive fixed cost online streaming services or pay to own tracks which limits the amount of music consumed and encourages copying and side-loading," says CEO Martin Rigby.
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