Omnifone

Omnifone
Company typeLimited
IndustryDigital music services
Founded14 January 2003 (2003-01-14)
FounderRob Lewis, Phil Sant, Mark Knight
Defunct4 May 2016 (2016-05-04)
Headquarters
London
,
United Kingdom
Area served
US
Canada
UK
Ireland
Australia
New Zealand
France
Germany
Italy
Spain
Austria
The Netherlands
Belgium
Luxembourg
Sweden
Norway
Finland
Denmark
Switzerland
Croatia
Hungary
Singapore
Hong Kong
Taiwan
South Africa
Brazil
Mexico
Japan
Key people
Rob Lewis (Executive Chairman), Jeff Hughes (CEO)
ProductsSony Music Unlimited, RIM BBM Music, MusicStation, Sony Ericsson PlayNow plus, rara.com
Number of employees
200 people
Websitewww.omnifone.com

Omnifone was a UK-based company that was an independent provider of cloud-based unlimited music services to consumer electronics vendors, mobile carriers, Internet service providers and consumer brands including RIM,[1] Sony,[2] HP,[3] and rara.com.[4]

Omnifone enabled legitimate cloud-based unlimited music consumption and a viable alternative to piracy across multiple in-home, in-car, mobile and PC platforms,[5] having launched its MusicStation-powered unlimited music services across five continents[6] on a wide range[7][8] of devices.

On 4 May 2016 the company was placed into administration, laying off a substantial part of its staff and looking for a buyer, whereupon the company ceased its operations.[9] Some of its assets have been acquired by Apple.[10]

  1. ^ Paid Content: 25 August 2011: RIM Breaks Social Ground With Its New BBM Music Service,
  2. ^ "22 December 2010: Sony's Music Unlimited subscription service ready to stream tunes to PS3s and Bravia TVs in the UK". Engadget. 22 December 2010. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  3. ^ Wray, Richard (25 January 2010). "25 January 2010: HP deal strengthens Omnifone's position in digital music battle". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  4. ^ BBC News, 13 December 2011.
  5. ^ "Billboard: January 2009: Omnifone, Gracenote Partner On Integrated Unlimited Music". Billboard. 8 January 2009. Archived from the original on 26 July 2010. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  6. ^ Green, Tim. "Mobile Entertainment: 9 June 2009: PlayNow plus goes live with Orange Austria". Mobile-ent.biz. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  7. ^ "Sound start to music on mobiles". BBC News. 14 June 2007. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  8. ^ "2 April 2009: MusicStation comes to PC". MusicWeek. 2 April 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  9. ^ "Digital music firm Omnifone placed into administration". Music Ally. 4 May 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference TC20161107 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).