Verizon Wireless announced today the launch of its online music service, VCAST Music. Offering customers the ability to download music over the air directly to their wireless phones, VCAST Music gives users immediate access to songs from well-known artists at major music labels Warner Music Group, EMI Music, Universal and Sony/BMG, as well as indie provider The Orchard. Letting consumers play music on their wireless phones, more than one million songs will be available for purchase in the Verizon Wireless VCAST Music Store by spring.

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VCAST Music combines the immediacy of over-the-air, full-music downloads with the ability to move a digital music collection between a Windows XP PC and a wireless phone. The service lets customers browse, preview, download and play high-quality digital music from their phones or online in the Verizon Wireless VCAST Music Store. Purchases from the phone also feature a dual-download of the song, giving customers the ability to get the same song on both their phone and their PC for one price. VCAST Music also allows customers to take digital music already downloaded to their PC and sync it with their handset via USB cable, using the most widely-respected and comprehensive Digital Rights Management (DRM) standard, from Microsoft, available in the United States today.

VCAST Music runs on Verizon Wireless' award-winning broadband network. The VCAST coverage area, which mirrors the company's broadband network, is already available to 150 million Americans, coast to coast.

Denny Strigl, president and chief executive officer of Verizon Wireless, said at the news conference today, "Verizon Wireless kick-started the convergence of wireless and entertainment at CES last year with our launch of VCAST, the first wireless broadband multimedia service in the country. Today's announcement of VCAST Music emphasizes the leadership role we're playing in bringing customers the entertainment content they want and the mobility they need in today's fast-paced world. VCAST Music is the mobile music experience that consumers have been craving."

With the launch of VCAST Music, Verizon Wireless reinforces its position as the industry's multimedia leader, providing revolutionary new services from the company known for the most reliable network in the nation. The company continues to introduce services that are innovative, cutting edge and hip; with the introduction of VCAST Music, Verizon Wireless breaks into the new world of mobile music, opening a broad music distribution front. With a few million portable digital music players in use in the U.S. today - compared with more than 200 million wireless phone users - Verizon Wireless will meet the dual needs of customers who want mobile music and the ease of carrying just a single device, opening a whole new untapped consumer market.

John Stratton, vice president and chief marketing officer for Verizon Wireless, said at the CES press conference, "By offering direct, on-the-go access to a half a million songs today, and more than one million by spring, VCAST Music allows people to punctuate everything they do with the music that matters most to them - wherever they are. Music is a natural on the one device people don't leave home without - their wireless phone - making VCAST Music the ultimate combination of content, mobility and convenience for the music-lover in us all."

Windows Media from Microsoft

With VCAST Music, Microsoft and Verizon Wireless are collaborating on a service that enables music to be purchased and delivered directly to wireless handsets and Windows XP PCs, allowing customers to access and enjoy music whenever and wherever they want. Microsoft's Windows Media technologies are powering next generation digital entertainment scenarios on wireless phones and enabling a simple, connected digital media lifestyle with access to content virtually anywhere. Microsoft has been an integral part of bringing VCAST Music to market, enabling an end-to-end mobile music experience with direct delivery to the phone and the Windows XP PC.

Verizon Wireless also uses Microsoft's Windows Media technologies to power its existing VCAST service, the nation's first broadband entertainment service providing high quality video content to wireless handsets.

VCAST Music Service Details

- Customers purchasing songs from the VCAST Music Store from the phone get two copies of every song - one for the phone and one for the Windows XP PC.
- Purchases from the PC cost $0.99 and may be transferred via USB cable to the phone; purchases from the handset cost $1.99 for both copies.
- VCAST Music customers will also be able to purchase entire albums via their Windows XP PCs; prices vary by album.
- One million songs will be available on VCAST Music by spring; songs will be from artists at major music labels (Warner Music Group, EMI Music, Universal and Sony/BMG), as well as independent providers (The Orchard).
- Several VCAST Music-enabled phones will be available at launch, including the LG VX8100 and the Samsung a950.