Vodafone now has the largest number of paying music subscribers in Europe. They have announced that nearly 450,000 of its customers have signed up for its music subscription services since it signed DRM-free deals with four major labels back in 2009.

The popular communications giant currently has deals with Universal Music, Sony Music, EMI and Warner music respectfully.

Vodafone saw a dramatic increase in subscriptions in December of last year when over 100,000 customers signed up to a range of music services across the eight largest Vodafone markets in Europe.

The sudden surge of interest in the service is being attributed to popular options such as monthly 10-track MP3 bundles and ‘all you can eat’ unlimited access subscription services. MP3 tracks bought in bundles can be played on mobiles and PCs with a wide range of digital music players including iTunes. With these bundles customers will generally receive 10 tracks for approximately five Euros.

For those who prefer the AYCE option, it’s available either alone or bundled with data tariffs – the latter option will provide customers with access to the entire music catalogue with over two million tracks for as little as three Euros per month.

Lee Epting, Director of Content at Vodafone Internet Services, says the company is “excited” by the positive response it has received to its music offers so far but is still looking toward the future:
“We expect to see continued growth in our music service subscriptions driven by the increase in smartphone use,” he says.

“We will carry on working hard with our partners in the music industry to develop new and innovative music services for our customers. Vodafone is starting to prove the significance of its place in the music industry.”

Similarly, Vodafone is seeing a positive response from its music industry partners. Ian Whitfield, Vice President Digital Development for Europe at EMI, says EMI is “very pleased” with the results from the company.

“EMI and Vodafone have worked together for many years and over the last 12 months we have collaborated to bring a variety of music offerings designed to fulfill consumer demand across Europe,” he says.

By Taylor Turner