Melbourne, 28 November 2005 - destra Music, wholly owned by destra Corporation Limited (ASX: DES) has expanded its longstanding relationship with SonyBMG Australia (SonyBMG) and signed a new contract to sell SonyBMG’s content to mobile phones.
The agreement enables destra to sell SonyBMG’s music full track downloads to mobile phones as well as true tones, wall papers and movie video clips.
“The music industry and the mobile community were made for each other,” said Domenic Carosa, destra’s CEO. “When people leave their house, they bring their keys, wallet and mobile phones with them – the mobile phone is the natural music player.”
There are approximately one million iPods in Australia but over 15 million mobile phones. Shorter upgrade cycles and the launch of 3G networks are feeding mobile music/video models.
destra Music blazed a trail as the first company in Australia to launch a legal digital music service in December 2003, offering music through its network of online retail partners.
Today, destra Music has access to over 550,000 tracks from major record companies offering digital music delivery through its retail partner sites - such as www.Chaosmusic.com.au, www.Harveynorman.com.au, www.jbhifi.com.au and a number of ABC sites.
destra believes that as a result of the mobile explosion, music and the consumer experience is taking on a whole other relationship - music as ringtone, mobile device as retail provider, mobile device as radio player, mobile device as music library – with the consumer being fully immersed in a mobile music experience.
The company recently signed a contract with Nasdaq listed ROO Group Incorporated (ROO) to access ROO’s database of video clips for its destramusic.com and MP3.com.au websites.
destra is currently engaged in discussions with regional 3G mobile network carriers to support its audio and video technology. Carosa said, “According to IDC’s latest research, 3G networks are enabling the delivery of multimedia rich mobile content, with the two fastest-growing categories, music and video/TV services, projected to enjoy a five-year compound annual growth rate [CAGR] of 190 and 112 per cent, respectively.”
destra’s Chairman, Carl Olsen, said, “With the number of mobile music and video/TV users forecast to double every year between 2005 and 2009, destra’s mobility strategy positions the company to continue its market leadership.”
The Company announced on Friday that it had terminated its agreements with Artist & Entertainment Group Limited (ASX:AEM) for AEM to acquire all of destra’s digital media assets. Additionally, destra announced it will now acquire the profitable Rajon Music & Video Group pending due diligence activity. destra’s Board has stated that Rajon’s financial strength allows the Company to facilitate further investment in digital media within the destra corporate structure.