Rogers introduces DRM free music… sound familiar?

(UPDATE: fixed incorrect URL and graphic – where’s that editor-in-chief when you need him? Oh yeah…)

With services and pricing structures being almost identical between the ‘big three’ Canadian wireless carriers, it’s hardly surprising that Rogers has followed Telus’ lead, and has introduced a new DRM free music service. Two wIn keeping with the theme, individual tracks will cost between $0.69 and $1.29, with $0.99 being the sweet spot. Albums will also generally be priced at $9.99.  To help differentiate itself, Rogers is also the first to introduce pre-orders.

“Customers want the freedom to enjoy their downloaded music across multiple devices. The addition of DRM-free music tracks to Rogers urMusic, paired with the ability to order albums in advance of their release date, is a perfect complement to our music and Wireless Box Office(TM) services featuring exclusive service-fee free concert tickets through Live Nation, and various musical sponsorship events.” said John Boynton, Rogers EVP of Marketing. [from the Press Release]

You can check out urmusic.ca now.  It’s worth noting that although Telus has waived the additional download fee for albums, Rogers will continue to charge applicable download fees.

UPDATE: According to Rogers the data incurred from downloading a song comes out of a customers data bucket.

There is a download fee of $0.25 for any song and $1-$3 for any album download regardless of whether or not you have a data plan. This is charged in addition to the song price or album price.

You can check out rogers.com/urmusic for details on monthly subscription plans.

Catch the full press release

Rogers the first Canadian wireless carrier to offer full album pre-orders as part of its full-track over-the-air music downloads store

TORONTO, Feb. 24 /CNW/ – Rogers today announced the availability of
Digital Rights Management-free (DRM) song downloads through its music
service, urMusic(TM), enabling customers to download, listen and enjoy their
music across different devices.
Customers visiting www.urmusic.ca online or via the mobile web portal on
their wireless device will now have the ability to purchase DRM-free (also
known as MP3) music tracks to their device or computer and transfer them to
their other digital music-capable electronic devices, free of charge. With
more than sixty-seven MP3 supported handsets from Rogers, including popular
smartphones such as those on the BlackBerry(R) platform, Rogers customers
have the flexibility to enjoy their music wherever and whenever they want.
“At Rogers, we know that music is a passion for many of our customers,
and we are committed to offering the best in mobile music entertainment,”
said John Boynton, Executive Vice President, Marketing, Rogers Communications
Inc. “Customers want the freedom to enjoy their downloaded music across
multiple devices. The addition of DRM-free music tracks to Rogers urMusic,
paired with the ability to order albums in advance of their release date, is
a perfect complement to our music and Wireless Box Office(TM) services
featuring exclusive service-fee free concert tickets through Live Nation, and
various musical sponsorship events.”
New tiered pricing is also available for DRM-free music tracks ranging
from $0.69, $0.99 and up to $1.29* per track. Full album purchases generally
cost less than $10* for Rogers customers.
For more information, please visit www.urmusic.ca.

*plus applicable download fees