Until last week, in car entertainment hardware providers (car stereo manufacturers) only looked at selling their hardware to consumers. One of the biggest names in car entertainment systems, Clarion has just changed the game with the launch of the fully licensed, DRM-free (digital rights management-free) online music purchases for Clarion car stereo owners. Clarion Malaysia last week signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Prodigium Mobile, a UK-based cloud services provider. Prodigium Mobile holds the rights to market 18,000,000 songs from a cloud-based, online music store in Asia.
Under this MoU, Prodigium Mobile has appointed Clarion as its exclusive licensee in Asia for the automotive industry. As exclusive licensee, Clarion is the only car audio manufacturer in Asia that can offer its customers access to Prodigium Mobile’s Internet-based music store to purchase and download fully licensed, DRM-free songs.
“We are very excited about this deal because this has never been done before. This is the first time a car audio manufacturer is providing its customers with access to buy and download 18,000,000 fully licensed, DRM-free songs,” said T.K. Tan, Managing Director of Clarion Malaysia.
So how does it work? You buy the ‘Android-based’ Clarion Mirage car stereo. Just like how you use an Android phone to download games, the Clarion Mirage is the first car stereo in Asia that comes with the option to purchase the fully licensed music content that you want, from the Internet. There will be 18,000,000 songs for our Clarion Mirage customers to choose, buy, download and play in their cars. The Mirage is an Android-driven device, a smart car stereo. With the availability of the online music download feature, the Clarion Mirage is a unique smart car stereo for the Asian market. Pricing for the Clarion Mirage is still pending approval and Clarion Malaysia is working with a few car companies in the region to have the system installed as a factory approved in car entertainment unit.
Morever, Mr. Tan said, Clarion Malaysia will also collaborate with Prodigium Mobile to launch the “Music for Life” campaign that will roll-out in Asia. Under the “Music for Life” campaign, Clarion customers will also be able to download free songs periodically. “Prodigium Mobile is our link to the London School of Sound, Tonium UK and fresh, independent talents worldwide to record music which can be shared with Clarion customers. This is Clarion’s gift of music to our customers.
“On the local front, we have built a recording studio in Clarion Malaysia. With this facility in place, we will work with Prodigium to assist talented, independent Malaysian and Asian artistes to record their original music. We will also assist them to make their music available online for worldwide distribution. “In this way, we will assist to promote our local talents,” Mr. Tan said. At press time, the cost of download had not be finalised and Clarion Malaysia will inform us once the pricing has been confirmed.
