The music service WiMP will be available to up to 700,000 Norwegian households this spring via an agreement with Canal Digital, Norway's largest television distributor. The music service will be included as part of the television subscription at no extra cost.
/ 19/02/2011 / codexCanal Digital's satellite and cable TV customers will be offered the WiMP music service on their PC or Mac, with full access to the entire music library and editorial offerings in the service. Users who wish to upgrade to be able to use mobile clients will be offered this. In addition, there will also be the opportunity to choose a WiMP family subscription with up to three accounts at discounted prices.
-TONO is very pleased with the agreement that has been signed with WiMP/Canal Digital, says TONO's communications manager, Jan Richard Kjelstrup. It gives Canal Digital's cable and satellite TV customers simple and unique access to WiMP's music library. With this agreement, a large proportion of Norwegian households will receive a very good music service right into their living room. We expect that WiMP, through the TV subscription, will provide a large increase in the use of digital music. This agreement also helps to secure the songwriters' income, both in the short and long term.
– Music has undergone a revolution in many ways in recent years with the advent of streaming. Now we are at a new crossroads in that we will reach a much larger and broader audience when 700,000 households gain access to WiMP. We look forward to continuing to guide Norwegians through all the millions of songs that are available with us. We will be the best in Norwegian, first with new and easy to use, says Per Einar Dybvik, CEO of Aspiro Music.
– This agreement helps to elevate our digital entertainment offering to a new level. We believe that the fact that we can now include WiMP – with millions of songs – in the TV subscription of around 700,000 customers will both delight our customers and change the way many Norwegians consume music, says Kenneth Tjønndal Pettersen, CIO at Canal Digital.
– This is a boost to ensure Norwegian artists and releases distribution and visibility among the broadest groups of music listeners. With WiMP's focus on promoting Norwegian music and Canal Digital's reach, it is an agreement with cultural policy dimensions, says Rolf Presthus of Platekompaniet AS.
– We at Sony Music are very happy about this exciting collaboration. This agreement provides a unique opportunity for an excellent service like Wimp to be introduced to a large group of consumers. Many of whom I think are not aware that this type of service actually exists. We are looking forward to getting started, Lena Midtveit at Sony Music.
“This exciting partnership combines immediate distribution scale and marketing with a fantastic music experience in the heart of people’s digital living rooms. It creates a powerful opportunity for our local and international artists to reach a huge new audience, especially via Canal Digital’s smart family subscription offering,” says Jacob Key, Vice President, Commercial Strategy & Business Development, Warner Music Nordic.
– EMI Norway is looking forward to having more major players on the scene who will help drive the Norwegian music industry forward in the new digital and inevitable everyday life, says CEO Bjørn Rogstad of EMI Norway.
WiMP stands out from other music streaming services with its strong editorial profile, where a local editorial team selects and recommends songs, albums and artists and puts together fun and relevant playlists. WiMP also collaborates with artists to offer special versions and exclusive tracks for its users.
For questions, please contact:
Kristin Castillo EldnesIR and Information Manager at Aspiro+47,908 07,389kristin.eldnes@aspiro.com
Per Einar DybvikCEO of Aspiro Music
+47,901 04,317gunnar.selleg@aspiro.com
Kenneth Tjønndal Pettersen, Director of Information at Canal Digital, tel. 98257555, Canal Digital