This has been tried a few times before in the mobile market, but another one now comes into the picture: SayNow, a Palo Alto, CA-based mobile startup, will formally launch next month, and lets celebrities receive voice messages and send ones en masse to those who have subscribed to be a part of their fan community. Each celebrity gets a phone number that fans can call to either record a message or listen to one left by the artist, reports AP. The service is free; SayNow is relying on advertising for revenue.

SayNow, a startup based in Palo Alto, says it has signed more than 870,000 fans and secured $7.5 million in venture funding. The round was led by led by Shasta Ventures, which was joined by Tugboat Ventures’ Dave Whorton, a SayNow advisor since early 2006, and Costella Kirsch. The Palo Alto company began operating in July 2006. SayNow claims that its mobile communities have generated over 870,000 phone-based subscribers. Among the artists aligned with SayNow are R&B singer Alicia Keyes and Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine. A spokeswoman for SayNow said that the funding will go towards supporting costs associated with traffic and general growth. The company also wants to work towards moving beyond music to include other communities focusing on TV programs, sports teams and athletes, and politicians.