Musiwave Reveals Two Deals at 3GSM Confab

Musiwave, the Paris-based mobile-music service provider owned by U.S.-based Openwave, disclosed two new European deals with operators at the 3GSM World Congress confab yesterday (Feb. 13).

Musiwave is powering the Orange Music Store, a new full-track download music service offered by carrier Orange in the United Kingdom. The service is immediately accessible via seven Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and Nokia handsets, and will roll out on the brands' new lines of music-enabled phones coming out this year. Each track costs 1.50 euros (pound sterling -- $2.90)

With more than 1 million tracks from the majors and independents aimed at Orange's 15.3 million U.K. subscribers, the service also comes with Musiwave's new music-discovery engine that can be downloaded on to compatible devices.

"This enables you to browse the catalog (of music) offline, listen to previews before deciding whether or not you want to buy directly," Albin Serviant, Musiwave's chief marketing officer, told Billboard.biz.

On the same day, 3 Italia, Italy's 3G (high-speed third-generation) carrier, unveiled Musiwave's Smart Radio service.

For 6 euros ($7.80) a month, Smart Radio gives 3 Italia's customers access to streamed online genre-based and themed music radio channels.

Depending on which songs the listener skips or plays, Smart Radio is able to customize the channels for the subscriber. Additionally, it is linked to 3 Italia's music store where users can download individual songs they want to buy.

Customers subscribing to both 3 Italia's Smart Radio and the music-download service will receive a 50% discount on the monthly (6 euros) fee.