Smart strengthens foothold in music space with Deezer

MANILA, Philippines - Wireless giant Smart Communications Inc., is strengthening its foothold in the music space as it eyes to capture majority of the music listening market in the country.

Smart executive vice president and head of the wireless consumer division Charles Lim said the company has expanded its music portfolio with the introduction of premium bundles for global music-streaming service Deezer.

“Deezer completes Smart’s music portfolio as we strive to provide the complete music experience to all kinds of users,” he said.

The announcement of the Deezer bundles complements Smart’s homegrown music service SPINNR that has revolutionized the music consumption habits of Filipinos by offering song downloads for as low as P10 and music streaming for just P2.50 per day.

“SPINNR provides the total music experience to our subscribers with streaming and downloads of all the latest and hottest songs, the most anticipated concert events, meet-and-greets with their favorite artists and exclusive access to official merchandise,” Lim added.

He pointed out that Deezer provides music streaming with a large catalog of 30 million songs and the widest availability in more than 100 countries around the world.

Lim said there is vast potential in the music space considering the proliferation of new types of mobile devices in the Philippines, considered the fastest-growing smartphone market in Southeast Asia by a GfK Asia study in 2012.

“With smartphone adoption still expected to jump exponentially in the coming months, more users will gain access to Internet-enabled devices capable of music streaming, and Smart is the only mobile provider that will have a full lineup of music services ready for them,” he said.

Smart also has the distinct advantage in providing the best music-streaming experience to all subscribers with its highly modernized network that is capable of delivering superfast mobile Internet to all users nationwide.

Melissa Limcaoco, head of innovation and product development at Smart, said the company expects more and more subscribers jumping into the music streaming bandwagon even though it is still a relatively new way of consuming music in the Philippines.

“Just a few years ago, music streaming was not a familiar concept among most Filipino music lovers. With SPINNR, Smart has paved the way for more fans to affordably enjoy music anytime, anywhere without worrying about the limited storage space on their mobile devices,” she said.

With the introduction of Deezer to its music portfolio, she said Smart expects music streaming to be more pervasive as it hopes to address the varied tastes of music fans nationwide.