Tech Shout!

Sony Ericsson has launched M-BUZZ, a service aimed at promoting new and up-and-coming artists. The W850 and W950 Walkman phones are the ones that will be the first ones to offer the service. With this move Sony Ericsson has attempted to enter the already jam-packed online music store.

The service is not slated to be available in North America - at least not at the start. Both phones would debut European, Asian and Latin American markets later this year.

Sony Ericsson sees these phones as a way to promote artists from Sony/ATV Music Publishing’s roster, offering some gripping cross-promotional opportunities.

Sony Ericsson president Miles Flint said, “Today’s announcement is another great example of the cooperative spirit that exists between Sony Ericsson and other Sony Group companies, which gives us a unique opportunity to bring appealing, innovative content to our mobile phones.”

The service is built atop Sony Ericsson’s PlayNow service, which allowed for the listening and purchase of ringtones previously. PlayNow has now been improved to enable full track music to accommodate the new service, the company said. Available content includes music videos, songs, biographies, tour schedules, and other content.

In due course, M-BUZZ would expand to more commercial music, but that is not in the immediate plans. Artists at launch would include Kish Mauve, Embassy, Dirty Perfect, FKLV, Iggy, The Head Set, Bobby Kray, Anjulie, Lights and MonteRosa.

“M-Buzz is all about breaking new artists; it’s about giving tomorrow’s stars, the artists that have not yet been picked up by major record companies, the exposure they deserve and the possibility for them to reach a wider audience. Sony Ericsson is very excited to be providing this new stage and taking on a more active role in the music industry going forward. Music is about innovation, creativity and change, and with the addition of M-BUZZ we will broaden our already wide music offering even further at the same time as we are allowing people to discover fantastic new music that otherwise might pass them by,” said Martin Blomkvist, Head of Content Acquisition and Partner Management at Sony Ericsson.

The service is scheduled to go live on 2nd October in 20 markets that are already using PlayNow service.