Universal taps iPhone App Store for tunes sales
A division of the mega-music multinational Universal Music Group (UMG) has introduced a new way to seduce music lovers into spending more on digital-music downloads.
This latest attempt of UMG to tap into the digital-music money machine comes close on the heels of the recent shutdown of Total Music, a subscription-based music service that UMG founded back in 2007 as a competitor to Apple's obscenely successful iTunes Store.
Unfortunately for UMG and its partners, however, Total Music - even after garnering powerful partners such as Sony BMG - was a total flop.
Now UMG is trying another tack. One of its divisions, Interscope Records, has released five free music-delivery applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch, now available on the iTunes app store.
These apps are enablers for digital-music impulse buying. Each is specific to a recording artist in the Interscope stable and provides fan-oriented "up-close-and-personal" videos plus an RSS reader for breaking news about the artist and user-interaction features such as the ability to chat with other fans and comment on and rate concerts.
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