Aspiro Music and Platekompaniet launches streaming service today – service receives solid praise from test users

Aspiro and Platekompaniet in cooperation with Telenor today launches the music streaming service called WiMP at the “by: Larm” festival in Oslo. Results from a user survey reveals overwhelmingly positive response from test users; where 94 percent are satisfied with the service and 80 percent are willing to pay for it.

At ”by: Larm” today, the details surrounding the launch of the service will be presented. WIMP has streaming deals with over 20 content providers for over 6.5 million songs, including the four major record companies and a number of smaller independent partners; Universal Music, Sony Music, EMI, Warner Music, Phonofile, Arts Pages, IODA, The Orchard, Beggars Group, Naxos, Vidzone and more, spanning from international hits, pop, rock, jazz and hip hop to classical music and traditional music. The music library will continue to increase as new partners join. The service, which was beta launched last year, is a music service where users gain full, legal access to millions of songs through the Internet from their PC or mobile phone. Users can easily search for and discover new music, create playlists, favourites, and recommendations. WiMP has an editorial crew that categorizes music, publishes playlists and recommends new and old releases - with a special focus on Norwegian music. “In NOrway, WiMP will be a service for Norwegian users”, said Rolf Kristian Presthus in Platekompaniet. “Small and large events in the Norwegian music scene will be reflected in the service. We are also focused on that the artists, copyright holders and record companies should get paid for their music. Only then can a service like WiMP survive over time. WiMP is organized as a subscription service with a payment model ensuring this”, he says. According to a recent user survey of beta testers of the service, a remarkable 94 per cent were satisfied with the service. The survey, carried out by Ipsos Norway, is based on interviews with more than 1500 beta testers and the results showed that: • 94% of users were satisfied with the service • 92% would recommend the service to others • 80% of those who took stand would prefer the service over other options • 80% would pay for the service To receive such a positive response from the critical and sophisticated users - as the beta testers represent - makes partners confident that the service will be very well received by music lovers. - For Aspiro we see the test results as further proof that we have developed a service that international distribution partners can rely on and be proud of, concludes Gunnar Sellæg, CEO of Aspiro. * Survey conducted with 1509 respondents from approximately 5000 beta users of the service. 87% of them are men, and 71% between 20-40 years old.

Tags: