The Harry Fox Agency, Inc. (HFA), the nation’s leading provider of rights management, licensing, and royalty services for the music industry, has announced a licensing deal with Cricket for its award winning music service, Muve Music. HFA will license Muve Music on behalf of HFA’s affiliated music publishers by clearing songs for limited digital downloads, ringtones and ringbacks, enabling a content-rich experience for Muve Music customers.
Muve Music is Cricket’s newest wireless innovation. Muve Music is the first unlimited music service designed specifically for the mobile phone. The service provides customers with unlimited access and downloads to songs, ringtones and ringback tones as part of a monthly unlimited flat-rate wireless plan. Music downloads directly to the user’s phone without a need for a computer, cables or credit card so consumers can access and manage their music everywhere they go. The service was recently launched in all Cricket markets and already is nearing the 100,000 subscriber mark.
Cricket’s relationship with HFA is a key strategic deal for the company, employing HFA’s award winning technology and song database to deeply broaden the issuance of volumes of song licenses for Muve Music. HFA’s deep ties to and long-standing relationships with more than 46,000 music publishers will support Muve Music’s growing library of licensed music.
Lauren Apolito, VP of Strategy & Business Development at HFA, commented, “HFA will work with Cricket on its innovative music plan and looks forward to licensing a variety of music experiences, helping to ensure Muve Music’s customers enjoy a great music service.”
“We believe this is a breakthrough opportunity for the music industry, artists, partners and most of all, our Cricket customers,” said John Bolton, director, Muve Music for Cricket. “With a licensing deal in place with HFA, we are able to provide additional full-track downloads as well as expand our offering of available ringtones and ringback tones, giving publishers two additional revenue streams while offering more content to our customers.”
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About HFA
HFA is the nation’s leading provider of rights management, licensing and royalty services for the music industry. With over 46,000 music publishing clients, HFA issues the largest number of licenses for the use of music in both physical and digital distribution formats. HFA also serves the D.I.Y. market with Songfile®, the company’s fast and easy online licensing tool. HFA’s service offering includes a suite of outsourced technology solutions designed to facilitate the administration of intellectual property rights. As a technology innovator, HFA is leading the industry in establishing global data standards and is a founding member and Board member of the Digital Data Exchange (DDEX). Additionally, HFA was recognized by InformationWeek on its 2010 Top 500 Relentless Innovators list, where the company ranked 121. For more information about HFA visit our website at harryfox.com.