Can music-oriented social-networking site Imeem get consumers to pay to get music on their cell phones that they could otherwise listen to for free on their PCs? The company, whose ad-funded site has the backing of all four major music labels to let user legally stream songs to listen to,…

Kirkland, Wash.-based Clearwire (NSDQ: CLWR) has named David Sach as CFO, replacing John Butler, who stepped down in September after Clearwire completed its merger with *Sprint* Nextel’s WiMax unit. Most recently, Sach served as CFO at Millicom International Cellular, a wireless company in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Prior to…

Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) has launched a UK mobile music download platform offering more than one million tracks and 10,000 videos from Sony (NYSE: SNE) BMG, EMI Music and Warner Music. The paid-for MSN Mobile Music service, launched in partnership with London-based VidZone Digital Media, offers tracks for £1.50 ($2.07), ringtones…

Carriers have found a new way of dangling content in front of consumers, but with all the same strings attached as the original “walled garden.” SanDisk (NSDQ: SNDK), the maker of the microSD memory cards, said today it has successfully demonstrated new technology with the help of LG (SEO: 066570),…

Early results from Nokia’s Comes With Music service are showing that one of the more surprising demographics that are adopting the service are mothers, said Trevor Madigan, Nokia’s manger of entertainment and communities Americas for software and services. “Madigan told me at CES that it’s an “agitated” mother who’s bothered…

This year was somewhat an anomaly for the wireless industry. A lot of things got done: the impossible of mergers closed; new phones launched that hold the promise of significant industry change; new business and distribution models emerged; and higher-speed networks were more prevalent, making for a better user experience.…

—Nokia (NYSE: NOK) launches traffic program: Nokia has launched a public pilot program out of its Silicon Valley-based research center to learn about GPS and traffic. Mobile Millennium, which is being done in collaboration with UC Berkeley’s California Center for Innovative Transportation, the California Department of Transportation and Nokia’s Navteq…

Thumbplay has launched a full-track music store for mobile phones with a catalog of 1.5 million songs. With DRM-free tracks from Universal, EMI, The Orchard (NSDQ: ORCD) and INgrooves, Thumbplay is hoping to grab as much interest for full songs as it has with ringtones. As ringtone sales continue to…

—MobiTV gets ABC content: MobiTV has struck a deal with Disney-ABC Television group to distribute ABC Mobile, a channel which includes full-length episodes ABC series,  Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, Samantha Who? and Ugly Betty, among others. ABC Mobile also features additional content from ABC Daytime, ABC Family and ABC News.…

The battle and gamble over unlimited music services has arrived. Once Nokia (NYSE: NOK) came out of the gate last December with its Comes With Music concept, much of the music industry seems to be following their lead and in some cases beating Nokia to the punch. In Australia today…

More details are emerging about Sony (NYSE: SNE) Ericsson’s (NSDQ: ERIC) unlimited music service, which sounds a lot like Nokia’s (NYSE: NOK) upcoming “Comes With Music.” Quoting recording-label sources, CNet reports today that the service is expected to launch within the next week, and that it’s through a partnership with…

Thumbplay confirmed today it has signed a deal with Warner Music Group (NYSE: WMG) to add content from artists such as Kid Rock and Missy Elliot to its catalog of ringtones, graphics and videos. The content started to appear on the site this week, and a Thumbplay spokesperson confirmed today…

EMI, in the midst of its own management reorg, has settled its ringtone royalties lawsuit with Infospace, though the terms were not disclosed. It did disclose the settlement in an SEC filing late yesterday. Infospace was sued by the music label in early 2007, to the tune of $100 million…

As Nokia Corp (NYSE: NOK). inches toward launching its “Comes With Music” flat-rate subscription service before the end of the year, the company’s head of global music, Elizabeth Schimel, said she’s hopeful EMI Music will come on board before it goes live. “We are optimistic about our conversations to date…

New York-based Thumbplay said it now has distribution agreements with three of the top four record labels with today’s addition of Sony (NYSE: SNE) BMG. The new partnership adds about 7,000 pieces of content to its catalog of more than 80,000 ringtones, wallpapers, games and videos. The company already had…

EMI has licensed Jamba to provide what the News Corp (NYSE: NWS). and Verisign-owned mobile entertainment outfit says is the label’s first DRM-free repertoire in Europe to cross both mobile and the PC, we’ve learned. Though tracks may not appear online for another couple of months, the deal was signed…

—EMI, SendMe Sign Deal: Mobile media company SendMe has signed a deal with EMI Music, which will see SendMe offering EMI’s full catalog of mobile content from its portal, SendMeMobile.com. That includes over 4,000 ring tones, as well as full tracks from artists including 30 Seconds to Mars, A Fine…

*Sony Ericsson* has announced plans to launch a mobile (and online) music store in the second quarter of 2008 in a bid to counter moves by Nokia (NYSE: NOK)—and to a lesser extent Motorola (NYSE: MOT)—into the mobile services market. It has signed up the big four labels: Sony (NYSE:…

Something I missed while I was at the conference last week: 3UK has signed a deal with Groove Mobile to sell music videos via a dual-download service. “The video downloads will cost GBP 1.49 (US$2.95), with audio tracks still at GBP 1.29 (US$2.56) for existing 3UK customers. In the event…