Sony today announces a partnership with Napster UK, Ltd, a subsidiary of Napster, Inc. (Nasdaq: NAPS), to offer the Napster service on all new Sony Wireless Walkmans, 16GB NWZ-A829, 8GB NWZ-A828K and 4GB NWZ-A826K.
All new Sony Wireless Walkman customers will be offered a free 14 day trial of the Napster To Go service, which permits access to Napster on up to 3 PCs. Sony customers can now drag and drop music onto their Walkmans and enjoy unlimited music on the move, with the added functionality of filling and refilling the Sony Walkman music player as often as they wish.
As part of the partnership bundle, Napster will also be adding 5 free downloadable tracks that the user can keep forever.
Following the trial, Sony Wireless Walkman customers can access the Napster To Go service for £14.95 per month. Napster To Go offers members unlimited access to over five million tracks, 80+ expertly programmed radio stations and 100’s of playlists with the ability to tailor these features to individual musical preferences.
Offering a storage capacity of up to 4000 songs and 64 hours of video with stunning playback quality on a high brightness 2.4” colour LCD display, the latest Sony NWZ-A820 Series Walkmans also come with Bluetooth Technology. This allows the user to stream music directly from the Walkman to any compatible device including headphones (included with the Sony Wireless Walkman), car stereos or home Hi-Fis.
Thorsten Schliesche, VP Sales & Marketing Europe, commented: “Sony led the way with personal music devices and we are delighted to be partnering with such an innovative and world renowned brand. By combining the Sony Wireless Walkman with Napster’s catalogue of over five million tracks, we are offering music lovers a complete service from the moment they purchase the product.”
Riad Hawa, Business Development Manager at Sony, commented:
“Napster brings one of the largest music catalogues to our customers and conveniently offers the choice of both pay per download and monthly subscription models.
As Napster subscribers, Walkman owners can indefinitely refill their devices with new music at no extra cost.”
The latest Sony NWZ-A820 Series Walkmans, combined with Napster To Go are already available in stores.
NOTES TO EDITORS
About Sony Walkman (www.sonystyle.co.uk)
Sony expands the innovative WALKMAN® family of digital media players with the easy-to-use NWZ-A820 WALKMAN® Video MP3 player. Delivering superb audio and video quality, it’s packed with advanced WALKMAN® features, extra-long battery life, a large 2.4-inch screen, wireless BT headphones and quick connection by Bluetooth® stereo to enhance today’s digital lifestyles.
Slim, light and beautifully styled, the NWZ-A820 is available in black. Three storage sizes are available. The NWZ-A829 (16GB) holds 4000 songs and 64 hours of video, NWZ-A828 (8GB) boosts 30 hours 40 mins of video/audio or 1,850 songs and the NWZ-A826 (4GB) can store up to 15 hours of video or 925 songs.
Generous battery life allows up to 10 hours of video playback or 36 hours of uninterrupted music playback. Even with Bluetooth® stereo enabled, playback stretches to 7 hours of video or 15 hours of music.
The clear, bright 2.4-inch QVGA screen supports super-smooth video playback at up to 30 frames per second with excellent contrast and colour reproduction. For extra flexibility, videos and photos can be viewed in any screen orientation (left, vertical, right) to suit personal tastes. Photo collections can also be viewed as slideshows accompanied by your chosen music track.
Support for Bluetooth® stereo opens up an exciting world of wireless connectivity options to enhance your enjoyment of digital media on the move. The NWZ-A820 can stream audio files and track/artist data through a Bluetooth® stereo enabled micro hi-fi such as the Sony CMT-HX90BTR.
About Napster (www.napster.co.uk)
Napster, the pioneer of digital music, offers the ultimate in interactive music experiences, creating better ways to discover, share, acquire and enjoy music – anytime, anywhere. With a Napster membership customers get unlimited access to one of the biggest music catalogues worldwide with more than five million tracks covering every genre, for a flat monthly fee.
The company’s offerings also include Napster To Go, which allows members to fill and refill a compatible music device and listen to their music on the move and Napster Light, a more condensed service for those who just want to purchase songs and albums a la carte. “Napster Mobile” is one of the industry’s fastest growing mobile music platforms, providing the premier mobile music experience for customers in eight global markets.
Napster’s European offices are based in Frankfurt, London and Luxembourg with worldwide operations located in Los Angeles. Napster's services are available in markets across North America, Europe and Japan.
For more information on Sony, please contact:
David Philips or Jenny Richards at Kazoo Communications
sony@kazoo.co.uk / 020 7479 4310
or
Rachel Batchelor, Sony UK
Rachel.Batchelor@eu.sony.com / 01932 817265
For more information on Napster, please contact:
Dan Nash
Senior Marketing Manager, Napster UK
+44 (0) 207 101 7285
+44 (0) 7956 498507
dan.nash@napster.co.uk
Napster media Contacts:
Lloyd Gofton
Liberate Media
07919 353484
lloyd@liberatemedia.com