Omnifone Signs Germany's First Global Music Subscription Licensing with GEMA

    MIDEM, CANNES, France, January 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --


    - Omnifone's commercial team negotiates landmark music
      licensing deal with GEMA opening up German market to legitimate
      subscription based digital music services

    - German subscription licensing rates brought into line with rest
      of European market

    - GEMA awards Omnifone first global subscription licensing for
      Sony's cloud-based music services "Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity"
      which launches in Germany this weekend

    - GEMA enables the first legitimate royalties revenue stream for
      Germany's music publishers and composers from subscription based
      digital music services

Omnifone, the leading independent provider of cloud based unlimited music services globally, today announces a landmark deal with German collection society GEMA to license the first legitimate global subscription service in Germany. Omnifone and GEMA agreed licensing for Sony's cloud based music service "Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity" which launches in Germany this weekend on Sony's range of network connected BRAVIA(R) TVs, Blu-ray Disc(TM) players, Blu-ray Disc Home Theater systems, PlayStation(R)3 computer entertainment systems as well as VAIO and other personal computers.

Through its negotiations for Sony's cloud based digital music service "Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity", Omnifone worked with GEMA, the authors' association for works of music, to establish a new licensing agreement for unlimited music services.

"This landmark deal negotiated with GEMA for Sony by Omnifone brings the cost of subscription based music licensing in Germany into line with the rest of Europe for the first time," said Jeff Hughes, CEO of Omnifone. "Omnifone's experienced commercial team enables partners to roll out cloud based music services globally, opening up new markets through innovative licensing agreements around the world."

"We are very pleased about the successful agreement with Omnifone. The signing of the contract illustrates that it is possible after all to license innovative business models in the field of online," said chairman of the Executive Board of GEMA, Dr. Harald Heker.

"Omnifone's groundbreaking license agreement with GEMA enables Sony to roll out the first fully-licensed, cloud-based, unlimited music service in Germany that delivers a great consumer experience and ensures German publishers and composers are fairly compensated for the music accessed by subscribers," said Tim Schaaff, President of Sony Network Entertainment.

Omnifone and GEMA's agreement will enable the introduction of further globally competitive subscription based music services into the German market, providing consumers with legitimate subscription based music services and generating new revenue streams for German rights holders.

About Omnifone

Omnifone is the world's leading independent provider of cloud-based unlimited music services for consumer electronics vendors, ISPs, automotive and mobile companies including the likes of Sony, HP, Sony Ericsson, Vodafone, Hutchison who are rolling out Omnifone's multi-award winning unlimited music services globally.

MusicStation(R), Omnifone's multi-award winning cloud based unlimited music platform is utilised by partners in 21 countries worldwide, enabling legitimate unlimited music access direct-to-device across a wide range of in-home, in-car, mobile and PC device platforms, tailored specifically to partner requirements.

At CES 2009 Omnifone announced a partnership with Gracenote Inc., winning a 'Best of CES' award for an in-car entertainment system with MusicStation unlimited music service. In 2008 Omnifone won Best Mobile Music Service at the GSMA Global Mobile Awards, Best Mobile Internet Service at the Mobile Industry Awards, the Juniper Research Future Mobile Award's Gold Award for Mobile Music, the Red Herring Global 100 Award and in 2007 the Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF) Music Service Meffy. The company is based at Island Studios, London with regional HQs in Asia Pacific. http://www.omnifone.com

About GEMA

GEMA represents in Germany the copyrights of more than 64,000 members (composers, lyricists, and music publishers), as well as over two million copyright holders all over the world. It is one of the largest societies of authors for works of music worldwide. http://www.gema.de

    Further information

    Tim Hadley
    Omnifone
    +447976410001
    [email protected]

    Isabel Palmtag
    GEMA
    Press officer and director online projects
    +49-89-48003-429
    +49-172-858-60-23
    [email protected]

SOURCE Omnifone Limited