Think you need an internet connection for music downloads? Think again. UBC Media Group, one of the UK’s largest independent radio production companies, today launched a download service that delivers songs across the Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) network.
To be fair, we’re not quite talking iTunes here. UBC’s system, which is being offered next month on a trial basis by Chrysalis Radio station Heart, simply allows digital-radio listeners to buy the track they’re currently listening to and have it transferred to a DAB-compatible music player.
UBC’s service broadcasts encoded and encrypted music files alongside a radio station’s audio stream. These are cached for a short time in the mobile device and can be bought and kept immediately. The company said the purchase would also trigger the transfer of the song to a user’s web-accessed music library, allowing them to download the song to a PC and to copy it to DRM-supporting portable music players.
UBC said songs are expected to cost around £1.25 ($2.27), bought through a pre-pay credit system. Mobile phones with built-in DAB receivers are expected to appear later this year, the company forecast.
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