Digital Home Thoughts: Sony And Vodafone Team Up For Mobile Phone Music

"Vodafone Group is to launch a new music service that will allow customers to access music in tune with their tastes using cell phones, as the mobile giant looks to grow revenues from areas other than phone calls. The world's biggest cell phone company by sales said on Monday it had partnered with Sony NetServices for the Vodafone Radio DJ service, which will offer personalized radio channels streamed to customers' third-generation mobile phones and computers."



Interesting news, but I still remain skeptical about mobile music downloads. The true purpose behind these ventures is to enable wireless carriers to cash in on the digital audio craze, and gouge consumers again with yet another revenue stream. Why not simply make it easier for consumers to transfer downloaded music from their PC to their phones? It seems to me that, under this business model, the carriers are simply the middleman.