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Digital
Pure and 7Digital launch FlowSongs
By CMU Editorial | Published on Thursday 12 August 2010
DAB radio manufacturer Pure has announced a new digital music service, launched in partnership with 7Digital and Shazam, called FlowSongs.
The service is aimed at owners of the company’s radio hardware, letting users identify songs playing on any radio station (DAB, FM or internet) by utilising Shazam’s software and then purchase them immediately through 7Digital at the press of a button on the radio itself. As well as immediately downloading tracks to the user’s PC, purchased tracks will then also be available to stream via the radio.
Colin Crawford, Director Of Marketing at Pure, said at yesterday’s launch of the service: “FlowSongs is the service I wanted back when I was fifteen, and that I know my daughter wants now she’s fifteen”.
However, an obvious problem for the service when used with any radio station that plays mainly new music (like the one Crawford’s daughter presumably listens to) is that singles are often serviced to radio six weeks or more ahead of release, meaning fans can’t buy lead single releases off new albums from any legit download store when they first hear them on air.
But 7Digital boss Ben Drury explained that the service would offer the option to pre-order or tag unavailable tracks for future purchase. Drury explained, as he did at a MusicTank debate earlier this year, that he has been surprised at the popularity of pre-ordering downloadable music amongst 7Digital customers.
FlowSongs is now in public beta and currently available on five Pure radios. The service is free for the first 90 days, after which an annual fee of £2.99 will allow the identification of an unlimited number of songs, with tracks costing between 79p and £1.29 each.
It’s not the first attempt to bring a download store to digital radio sets, though this one doesn’t actively involve any radio station companies, so it might actually work.
