BMI AND mobZilla ANNOUNCE LICENSING AGREEMENT FOR MOBILE/PC STREAMING MUSIC SERVICE
STREAMED, FULL MUSIC TRACKS OFFERED IN STEREO SOUND TO U.S. MOBILE PHONE
SUBSCRIBERS
LOS ANGELES and LA JOLLA, CA - March 2, 2005 - U.S. performing rights
organization BMI and La Jolla, CA based wireless media company mobZilla, LLC,
today announced an agreement covering the performing rights for BMI musical
works for mobZilla's mobile phone streaming music service. mobZilla also
announced their first major U.S. launch of streaming music to cell phones and
other wireless mobile devices.
mobZilla is a monthly subscription service which gives users unlimited access
to streaming commercial-free music both online and on select mobile phones
across most major U.S. carriers. mobZilla subscribers nationwide can listen to
a mix of music personalized from over 30 content genres through their mobile
phone or on the internet. Through their licensing agreement with BMI, mobZilla
is able to legally stream more than approximately 4.5 million works that are
represented by BMI.
mobZilla will be showcasing their service at CTIA in New Orleans in March,
giving carriers, handset manufacturers and mobile brands an opportunity
to demo the service. At a price-point of less than $5 per month, the service
can be accessed at www.mobZilla.com.
"mobZilla represents the next frontier in mobile music: bringing streaming FM
radio quality music programming to the phone," said Richard Conlon, Vice
President Business Development and Marketing, Media Licensing, BMI. "Consumers
are increasingly adopting their mobile phone or device to listen to music,
watch streaming video as well as download games. Listening to music on your
mobile device clearly and seamlessly is a logical next step and will help to
expand the market for mobile entertainment. This is a great opportunity to
reach listeners through a new medium while creating a new revenue stream for
songwriters, composers and publishers."
"With online music subscription services taking hold and with the increase in
mobile Internet connectivity, streaming music to mobile phones is a natural
extension of today's technology," said Mike Pinto, CEO at mobZilla. "mobZilla
has taken the logical step of providing a single subscription service that
gives users unlimited access to streaming music anywhere, anytime."
BMI has serviced the mobile entertainment space since 2001 and has processed
more than 200,000,000 ringtone transactions to clear public performance rights
on behalf of songwriters, composers and music publishers. BMI currently pegs
the wireless music market in excess of $500 million in retail sales for
calendar year 2005.
About BMI:
BMI, founded in 1939, is an American performing rights organization that
represents approximately 300,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers in
all genres of music. Through its music performance and reciprocal agreements,
it grants businesses and media access to its repertoire of approximately 4.5
million musical works from around the world.
About mobZilla:
mobZilla, LLC is a leading wireless media company developing solutions for
the delivery of personalized, on demand entertainment to the mobile phone.
From text messaging to mobile streaming, mobZilla powers its partners and
delivers entertainment directly to consumers at www.mobZilla.com.
mobZilla is the developer of a multiplatform streaming audio solution
that delivers audio to PC's and mobile phones. The mobZilla service allows
subscribers to listen to a personalized mix from over 30 content genres,
including: Urban, Pop, Club, Rock, Latin and Comedy. Further company information
can be found at www.mobzilla.com/corp.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Hanna Pantle, BMI
310-289-6328; hpantle@bmi.com
Dan Blackwell, mobZilla, LLC
858-349-9377; dan.blackwell@mobzilla.com