We mentioned in our new BlackBerry 7 device reviews that RIM's new BBM 6 has an API that allows other applications to integrate with the core messaging app. RIM has announced BBM Music, a new BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) service for socially connected music fans. BBM Music is an easy-to-use cloud-based service that enables social and viral music discovery by allowing users to build an evolving, community-based music library that is shared amongst their BBM Music friends. The size of the music library continues to grow as new friends join the community and each user can select music from a catalog with millions of songs from leading music companies - Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and EMI. Here is more info:
Key features of BBM Music include:
Music made social ? BBM Music is a cloud-based, social music service that allows you to share and discover music with your friends, creating a continually evolving music library:
-Build a personal music profile with 50 of your favorite songs. You can refresh your profile by swapping out up to 25 songs each month. - Invite your BBM friends to subscribe to BBM Music and to join your BBM Music Community. -With each friend that is added to BBM Music, you grow your music collection since the songs from the profile of each BBM Music friend are available to you at any time. -Up to 50 tracks from your personal profile are shared with your BBM Music Community, and each member of your community shares up to 50 songs from their profile with you. -Enjoy a truly social community-based music experience ? the more friends who join your community, the more songs you can listen to. -Easily discover music that your BBM Music friends are listening to, and comment on your friends? songs and playlists.
You can create multiple playlists from music in your profile as well as all of your friends? profiles, and with one click you can shuffle the entire collection of music from your BBM Music Community. You can even see which friend contributed each song while it plays.
Within your BBM Music app, you also see a visual timeline that shows the recent updates of all users within your community. It gives you a chronological view of community updates, including who added new friends, which songs were added or removed, which playlists were created and what comments were made by your BBM Music friends.
Listen to Full Tracks - BBM Music subscribers can listen to full tracks from their friends? profiles ? not just previews.
Offline Listening - Music can be saved to smartphones for offline listening, allowing users to access songs even when they don?t have wireless coverage.
Topping the Charts ? Keep track of how many friends are listening to your tracks.
Omnifone, a premier cloud music service provider, is providing RIM with a back-end solution for the BBM Music service that provides content management, music hosting and reporting functions based on Omnifone?s award winning technology. As part of RIM?s proprietary service, Omnifone's back-end solution helps facilitate the delivery of a full music catalog to BBM Music users and comprehensive compensation reporting for copyright holders.
A closed beta trial of the BBM Music service is starting today in Canada, the United States and the UK. The BBM Music service is expected to be commercially available to customers later this year for a monthly subscription of $4.99 USD in Australia, Canada, Columbia, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, the United Kingdom and the United States.
For more information about BBM Music, and to sign up to be notified of its availability in your country, please visit www.blackberry.com/bbmmusic