Nokia has partnered with Rihanna to promote the pop star’s latest album release “Rated R” through an impressive series of events on the phone, including exclusive content, a live-streaming concert and an application for Nokia phones. (Release.) Through the partnership, Nokia will promote its Ovi application store and the X6,…

European entertainment and telecoms group Vivendi (EPA: VIV) had promised a “cautious approach” to acquisitions in H209 but, despite, that it’s launched a bid to buy GVT, the fastest-growing telco in Brazil. The Sao Paulo-listed holding company is owned by the Dutch Global Village Telecom group and the Swarth Group…

“Don’t it always seem to go you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.” ... Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) didn’t pave paradise but it helped kill off albums and now it wants the magic—and the higher profit margins—back. The FT reports via multiple unidentified sources that Apple, EMI, Warner Music…

Southeast Asia’s biggest telecoms firm SingTel launched a mobile download service Sunday for music and videos in its home market of Singapore, which it plans to take to other parts of Asia. The service, called AMPed, was developed with Universal Music and will help position the carrier’s offering beyond “just…

Tapulous, the mobile game company known for its popular iPhone game, Tap Tap Revenge, has signed a deal with Universal Music Group, to make games based on some of the label’s most famous artists. The first game is based on hit singer Lady GaGa (pictured, right), and will include 14…

—NBA, SPIN, UMG Go iPhone: The NBA is launching an iPhone app for the 2009 playoffs, SPIN Magazine is launching SPIN Earth on the iPhone to highlight music and culture from around the world, and Universal Music Group is launching several iPhone apps for artists including Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em,…

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,…

Kyte, the San Francisco-based company that enables people to stream video directly from their phones to the web, has identified a new revenue stream—helping companies launch iPhone applications. The company is announcing today that its partner Interscope Geffen A&M, a division of Universal Music Group, will launch iPhone apps for…

After seeing success with artists, such as Pussycat Dolls, Soulja Boy Tell Em and All American Rejects, Universal Music Group said it is designating Kyte as the mobile video platform for its artists and labels worldwide, and will work with the San Francisco-based company to develop new applications to engage…

Adam Flick, VP of marketing at Universal Music Group Distribution, has left the company to pursue other opportunities, a spokesman confirmed today. Flick was appointed VP of marketing for Universal Music Mobile in 2006, where he worked on marketing and promotional activities with wireless carriers, mobile content distributors, device manufacturers…

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),…

A few interesting tidbits surfaced during an interview between Rio Caraeff, EVP of Universal Music Group’s eLabs, and CNet, that implies that mobile music may not be as far behind as some people thought. Caraeff said that mobile makes up nearly half of revenues from its digital business and that…

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…

—Perez Hilton launches mobile site: The celebrity gossip site that made the Paint application cool again with rudimentary white dots and lines on celebrity photos has launched a mobile site. In addition to opening up the site’s archives on mobile, the gossip blog now gives readers the ability to share…

Universal Music Group’s catalog is now available as DRM-free full-track MP3s and ringtones to Dada Entertainment customers. Dada, which is a year-old joint venture between Dada and Sony (NYSE: SNE) Music Entertainment, will also get access to exclusive tracks from Universal artists Xtreme later this month.  With Universal Music Group…

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…