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The traditional use of music videos as a promotional vehicle for artistes is being upended by content owners and device makers who are making efforts to appeal to an entirely new market by offering videos to consumers to purchase and watch on the go - music videos on the move!
Both Creative and Soundbuzz see the collaborative online music video store as the next step in the transformation and consumption of music. Music videos are the newest frontier for the music industry, which is seeing online music contribute increasingly significant dollars to its bottom line.
Content providers, along with audio and video device manufacturers, have increasingly been looking at ways to build a viable commercial model for delivery of video content to the 'moving music masses'.
"We've always seen music videos on-the-go as the next big thing in digital entertainment," asserts Joseph Liow, General Manager of Creative Labs Asia.
"As the feasibility of distributing music videos has grown, so too has our diligence in pioneering portable media players with extraordinary video capabilities. With the amount of resources we have devoted to developing our new range of portable media players to date, we are confident that we have produced video-enabled solutions that 10 million-strong base of MP3 player users will aspire to upgrade to.
"With feature-rich and powerful video-enabled players such as ZEN Vision, our momentous and timely partnership with Soundbuzz will surely be the catalyst that revolutionizes the way music videos are enjoyed across Asia. And the host of exciting video-enabled offerings we have in the pipeline will serve to perpetuate this trend.
"This partnership is particularly significant to us because it not only cements Creative's position as a leader in the development and provision of digital entertainment solutions, it also seals our status as a forerunner in the race to bring next-generation modes of entertainment to the masses."
A boon for consumers seeking ease and simplicity, the new Soundbuzz Music Video Store, due for release in Singapore in October and the rest of Asia soon after, will be incorporated into the installation CD for Creative's latest ZEN Vision portable media players. This means ZEN Vision owners can preview and purchase music videos at the click of a mouse, along with albums and tracks from a massive catalogue of over 300,000 songs.
According to Soundbuzz Asia General Manager, Ms Yen Ong: "Music videos are incredibly popular among music fans who are increasingly mobile and want their music with them at all times.
"It was inevitable that music labels and device manufacturers would look at joining forces to deliver videos to the ever growing ranks of online music purchasers.
"The starting point for Soundbuzz was in making the latest, hottest music videos easily accessible for purchase, which meant providing our store directly to people's desktops when they purchase a new portable media player.
"Creative's new ZEN Vision is the perfect platform for music videos, and represents the next stage in our regional plan to deliver Soundbuzz online stores to millions of desktops via distribution partners like Creative which have strong customer bases."
SONY BMG, EMI and Warner artistes will feature as part of the initial 1,000-strong video catalogue, including Beyonce, Jolin Tsai, ColdPlay, Gorillaz, Craig David and 5566. Soundbuzz anticipates that licensing deals will be finalized with the remaining major music labels by early 2006.
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Facts and Stats
| Online and mobile music industry contribution to overall revenues by 2009 | 25% |
| Music download revenues alone by 2010 | USD2Bn |
| Number of music downloads in the first quarter of 2005 cf all of 2004 | 180M cf 157M |
| Factors which have impeded mass market take-up of media players and which are addressed by the Soundbuzz store |
o DRM issues |
About Soundbuzz
Soundbuzz is Asia's largest online and mobile music company, with its 50 plus collective stores attracting the majority of online and wireless purchases. The company operates its own store, Soundbuzz.com, as well as providing content and/or technology infrastructure to partners such as Telstra BigPond Music, Singtel, M1, Creative Technology, Optus Zoo and SONY BMG.
With more than 300,000 tracks available to download, Soundbuzz is a 'one-stop-shop' for music, where music lovers can buy and download their favourite tracks and music videos onto their PCs, digital music players and mobile phones.
About Creative Technology
Creative (NASDAQ: CREAF) is a worldwide leader in digital entertainment products for PC users. Famous for its Sound Blaster® sound cards and for launching the multimedia revolution, Creative Labs is now driving digital entertainment on the PC platform with products like its highly acclaimed ZEN and MuVo MP3 players. Creative's innovative hardware, proprietary technology, applications and services leverage the Internet, enabling consumers to experience high-quality digital entertainment - anytime, anywhere.