Over-the-air downloads come to BlackBerry

Online music provider 7digital is bringing over-the-air music downloads to recent BlackBerry phones, such as the Storm, Bold, and Tour. The rumors have been circulating for several months now. On Tuesday the company is set to launch its application--developed by DevelopIQ--on the BlackBerry App World store, as well as on the 7digital Web site.

A screenshot of the 7digital BlackBerry app.

(Credit: DevelopIQ)

After installing the free app, BlackBerry users will be able to buy and download more than 6 million songs from all four major labels and all the big independents, all in unprotected MP3 format. The app adapts automatically to the speed of the user's connection--when connecting over a wireless data network, it will download a relatively low-quality version of the song. Then, when the user enters the range of a previously known Wi-Fi network, it will automatically--in the background--update the MP3 with a higher-quality version (320kbps in most cases).

7digital is based in the U.K. and is fairly well known in Europe--it powers the download store for free streaming service Spotify, among other partnerships--but has been relatively obscure in the United States. That's changing Tuesday as well: the company is launching its online music store in the U.S., bringing more competition to the likes of iTunes and Amazon. Standard pricing for songs and albums will be 77 cents and $7.77 respectively, which is a play on the company's name (although variable pricing means that some popular material will cost more). The company also offers a free digital locker service, which backs up all your downloads in case you lose them.

[EastSideEarl]

&gt;&gt;although variable pricing means that some popular material will cost more <br /> <br />If this is like one of the other popular services, you can read that as "although variable pricing means that most, if not all material will cost more." <br /> <br />At one time, having unprotected MP3s available for sub-$1 download probably would have been the bomb. Of course, year 2001 ended and we all moved on.

[toosday]

Not entirely. You should check out Lala.com if you are in the US. I'm looking at the new release of Mariah Carey (obviously one of the most popular artists in the world right now) and her new songs are just 89 cents. They also offer full-song samples - instead of just 30 second clips. Just want to listen to it online instead of downloading? Then pay just 10 cents. Plus they have a storage locker. Songs are automatically added to iTunes.<br /><br />Compare that to iTunes where the same songs are $1.29 each! iTunes does have iTunes LP, though, if you enjoy that. Although, I think iTunes is one of the weakest stores when it comes to music.<br /><br />I've heard a lot about 7Digital but I was unable to access it when they were UK only, though. They were the first to sell Radiohead songs digitally, if I recall correctly. I'll give it a try. They definitely have the highest bit rate, if that's your thing.

[tisesunshine]

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