Sony Ericsson Adds 5 Million Songs To Mobile PlayNow Service

Sony Ericsson announced the expansion of their PlayNow arena app today at the MidemNet conference in Cannes, France. Mark Wilson of Gizmodo relayed news this afternoon that the “over-the-air”(OTA) music service has signed with 10 major record labels such as Sony BMG, Warner Music Group, EMI, and more to add 5 million music tracks to its library.

The service is also adding a new feature named TrackID to PlayNow arena, allowing users to identify songs they hear on the radio or in a coffee shop, and subsequently purchase the songs from online catalog wirelessly. They will also be able to browse charts of songs that PlayNow users have searched for. Specific searches as to one’s location will be possible.

For the mobile gamers amongst Sony Ericsson’s customer base, 250 new games have also been added to the service from companies such as EA Games, Gameloft, and THQ. This gives Play Now arena one of the largest catalogs of mobile gaming in the industry.

Residents of Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland can expect the new service in May 2008, with more European markets by the end of June. Americans and Asians will have to wait until the last half of the year to enjoy the newest perks of the service.