Shazam's award-winning technology to offer the first mobile music recognition service to Vodafone Japan's 15 million subscribers
Tokyo, Japan - MTV Japan, together with its mobile partner, Yamaha, today announced the launch of Japan's first music recognition service - MTV Music Finder. In partnership with Shazam Entertainment, the UK based pioneering audio technology company, and SystemK, the Japanese licensee who extensively localised the system for Japanese mobile web platforms, the music recognition service will be made available to wireless consumers across Japan on a subscription basis.
Vodafone subscribers can access the MTV Music Finder by visiting MTV on Vodafone LIVE! and will be able to trial the service for free. After registering, subscribers can then identify a track simply by calling a four-digit short code and holding their mobile phone toward the music source. They will then receive an e-mail to their mobile phone with the name of the artist and song, and will be given the opportunity to purchase that ringtone from MTV Sounds.
Shazam and SystemK plan to expand the offering to additional mobile operators in Japan and work with record companies and artists throughout the year to extend their music offering and multi-media services.
MTV Music Finder is driven by Shazam's "Best of Breed" mobile music recognition technology and its over 2 million track database. MTV Japan has added to the database by selecting additional Japanese music from its extensive music library to offer to consumers.
"Japanese consumers are among the world's most savvy mobile users and we believe that they will be quick to adopt MTV's Music Finder service," said Jerry Roest, Shazam's Chief Executive. "As a partner, MTV are uniquely placed between the music industry and a target market central to music opinion forming. We see our relationship with a global music brand like MTV as key in driving Japanese music and mobile consumers to MTV Music Finder," he added. "Shazam has rapidly built a loyal following of mobile subscribers who use the service on a regular basis, illustrating the power of music recognition and the associated services within the mobile environment. Japan has been a strategically important country from the beginning and we have spent a lot of time on the ground understanding the market needs."
Takahiro Narumi, President of SystemK, added; "MTV Music Finder represents the best way to introduce this new and exciting service to the music-loving youth of Japan. These strong partnerships are essential in introducing additional products to further enhance the value of MTV Music Finder."
"We have high expectations for MTV Music Finder as a totally new kind of mobile service that
|
embodies 'innovative spirits', an important part of our brand image," said Takayuki Suzuki, Senior Manager of MTV Japan. "We are confident that this service will become the core of 'MTV360', the cross media marketing initiative MTV Japan is promoting."
"Yamaha recognizes the opportunity in offering this innovative service", said Keith Taniguchi, General Manager of Digital Contents Business Division of Yamaha Corporation. "We believe high-quality ringtones distributed by MTV Sounds will be highly valued by the subscribers of MTV Music Finder."
Shazam's service has already attracted more than a million users across the US, Europe, Asia and Oceania. In the UK alone, consumers have 'tagged' around 4 million tracks using the '2580' dial code.
About MTV Japan
MTV is the world's largest television network and the leading multimedia brand for youth and can be seen in 406.3 million households in 164 countries. In Japan, the 24-hour Japanese language network and web site was launched on 1 January 2001. With headquarters in Tokyo, the advertiser-supported MTV Japan offers a mixture of Japanese and international content to appeal to 15-34 year-olds. Reflecting the spirit of Japanese youth culture, original Japanese content is based on feedback from local audiences as well as other market research. The TV network is seen in 5 million cable and satellite households, including the SkyPerfecTV! digital platform, and is a separate operating business unit from MTV Networks Asia. MTV Japan runs three mobile online sites - MTV Mobile, MTV Sounds(ringtones), happy MTV.
About Yamaha
Yamaha Corporation, based in Shizuoka prefecture in Japan and headed by President Shuji Ito, is the world's largest manufacturer of musical instruments and a leader in digital audio with annual sales of 539.50 billion yen in fiscal 2004. Founded in 1897, it has remained at the forefront of the latest musical technologies and now employs 18,842 (fiscal 2004 figures) people around the world. Yamaha produces audio chips for use with ringtone services and launched its first ringtone subscription service in March 2000. Within Japan, Yamaha works with 15 different mobile content providers, including the "MTV Sounds Powered by YAMAHA" service, encompassing 3 million users. For more information about Yamaha, please visit www.global.yamaha.com/
About System K
SystemK Corporation is a privately held company located in Sapporo, Japan. Founded in 1992, SystemK specializes in introducing the world-class Internet-based technologies into Japanese market. Mr. Takahiro Narumi, the president, has been honoured with many awards for his entrepreneurship in Japan •
|
