Message #24 From:
Stock News Bot Date: October 19, 2006 05:30:00 AM
BGO News INgrooves Uses Bango to Connect Independent Music Labels with Their Fans around the World
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--INgrooves, the world’s leading digital media
publisher for independent music, is using Bango’s
browse and buy technology to connect independent music labels and
artists with their fans around the world and create the next generation
shopping experience on mobile. With the mobile rights for 500 labels
whose music genres include Hip-Hop, R&B, Electronic and Rock, INgrooves
is enabling the independent music industry to participate in the mobile
content revolution.
Industry analyst NPD Group reports that Rap/Hip-Hop was the leading
ringtone genre among those downloading ringtones in the U.S. market in
July 2006, accounting for 23 percent of ringtone downloads. Using a
content management system from Graphico New Media, INgrooves builds WAP
sites for its artists and labels to address the increasing demand for
new ringtones and other content such as wallpapers.
Bango’s browse and buy technology enables
artists such as Thievery Corporation, The Crystal Method, Traxamillion
and breakout R&B star, Kieran, to sell digital content directly to
mobile phone users across all networks using the mobile internet. The
mobile internet enables bands to have their own mobile content shop
where users browse and buy in one seamless flow, without the need to
exit the shop to send a Premium SMS message to buy content.
INgrooves’ artists and labels also benefit
from the internet’s networking effect where
users discover the site by browsing in from a mobile search engine or
clicking on a mobile advertisement. The viral element of the internet is
also important enabling fans to pass on recommendations and push links
for their favorite sites to each other.
In addition to operator billing, consumers can pay using Premium SMS,
credit/debit card and PayPal – so these
independent music artists and labels can sell directly to consumers on
any phone network world-wide.
“Bango’s global
payment platform is important to our independent artists and labels
because their fans span the globe,” said
Jason Kadlec, Director of Business Development at INgrooves. “We
need to deliver a superior consumer experience that makes people want to
come back again and again. Bango and the mobile internet deliver that
experience.”
About Bango
Bango has developed and deployed a unique open, global infrastructure
platform that enables content providers to market, sell and deliver
their products and services directly to mobile phone users on all mobile
networks using the mobile Internet. This “direct-to-consumer”
approach operates alongside the operator’s
mobile content portals. Leading mobile operators including Cingular
Wireless, Vodafone, Orange, Telefonica and O2 work with Bango to
accelerate the growth of their “direct-to-consumer”
business.
The Bango platform has given phone subscribers around the world greater
access to third-party content. Leading content brands are now adopting
the Bango Service to engage with all of their existing and potential
mobile customers directly – irrespective of
operator. Bango, based in New York and Cambridge (UK), is quoted on the
London Stock Exchange (AIM: BGO).
INgrooves is a digital media publisher and technology company that
provides distribution, marketing, and licensing services through its
INgrooves™, INgrooves Mobile Music™,
and Digital Music Access™ brands. As the
digital representative for frontline releases from artists and labels,
INgrooves increases the exposure and earnings potential of its artists
and label partners. INgrooves distributes audio and video content to
over 300 internet and mobile stores worldwide using its patent-pending
technology platform. Artists and independent labels seeking worldwide
marketing and licensing services rely on INgrooves to get their music
into TV, films, video games and other branding programs. For more
information, check out www.ingrooves.com.
