rara.com Music Streaming Apps Come to iPhone, iPad and Windows 8 in 27 Countries

LONDON, October 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

• British based music company rara.com launch music streaming apps for Windows 8, iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch with updated rara.com Android app and web service
• 7 new countries announced today; Brazil, Mexico, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, South Africa, Portugal. rara.com now live in 27 countries
• rara.com apps for Windows 8, iOS and Android provide ad-free on-demand mobile and tablet access to over 18 million tracks from just £/€/$1.99 per month*
• rara.com announces global agreement with Lenovo; rara.com apps preloaded on Lenovo Windows 8 tablets, convertibles and PCs plus Android mobiles and tablets
• rara.com licensed catalogue grows to 18 million tracks with new label deals with global rights agency Merlin and leading independent digital distributors The Orchard, INgrooves Fontana, Believe Digital and VidZone Digital Media
• rara.com marketing campaign kicks off across US, UK, Sweden, Germany, Spain and Australia

British based rara.com today announces a major expansion to its streaming music service, ten months after launching, with new apps for Windows 8, iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch as well as an updated Android app and web service. rara.com is switching on 7 new countries today, increasing its global footprint to 27 markets and increasing its catalogue of licensed music to 18 million tracks with thousands of Independent labels signed up through global rights agency Merlin and leading independent digital distributors The Orchard, INgrooves Fontana, Believe Digital and VidZone Digital Media.

Nick Massey, CEO of rara.com comments, "I am pleased to announce today that rara.com has made a significant step-forward in the execution of its roll-out strategy and can now be enjoyed in more places, on more devices, with more music and with more partners.  rara.com gives you the music you feel like listening to without you having to know the name of every track you want to play.  Our expert team of musicologists hand curate rara.com's channels and playlists bringing you music for every mood.  Available today on web, Windows 8, iPhone, iPad and Android, rara.com's beautiful user interface makes it easier to play the music you love wherever you are, whenever you want, with no annoying adverts."

New apps for iPhone and iPad

Dedicated rara.com apps launch today for iPhone iPod Touch and iPad providing instant on-the-move access to rara.com's vast music catalogue and expertly curated channels and playlists. Available to download from the App Store, the AirPlay compatible iOS apps synchronise your music experience through the cloud so that your favourite tracks and playlists from the web are instantly accessible on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.  Tracks are automatically stored on your device so that you can enjoy the music even when offline.

New Windows 8 app

rara.com also announces the launch of its app for Windows 8 app today for Windows 8 devices launching later this week. rara.com for the new Windows user interface provides simple one touch access to rara.com channels and playlists. On-demand search for rara.com is fully available through the Windows 8 Search charm. rara.com's app for Windows 8 can be used on the full range of Windows 8 desktop, tablet and hybrid computing devices running the new Windows 8 operating system and will be available to download later this week from the Windows Store.

Global agreement with Lenovo

rara.com today also announces a global agreement with Lenovo, one of the world's leading PC manufacturers Lenovo is preloading the rara.com music streaming apps onto Lenovo and Medion branded Windows 8 and Android devices around the world. Devices include Lenovo's Windows 8 PCs, convertibles and tablets, as well as Lenovo Android tablets, including the IdeaTab S2110, A2105, A2107 and A2109 tablets. Lenovo Windows 8 devices include: select IdeaCentre desktops and ThinkPad Classic and Edge laptops, IdeaTab Lynx tablets and IdeaPad laptops, including the recently announced flip and fold IdeaPad Yoga convertible PC.

Deepa Kumar, Director, World Wide Marketing, Software Ecosystem & Cloud Solutions, Lenovo said; "Our collaboration with rara.com will give  our customers a great new way to explore and enjoy music on our innovative devices, whether it's on an all-in-one desktop at home or on one of our convertible PCs switching between work and play. With  easy-to-use music apps rara.com makes accessing  music simple."

Updated web service and Android app

rara.com launches an updated web service today with an improved sign up process and a range of stability improvements, customer account management features and additional language support.  rara.com's Android app, available to download from Google Play, has been updated to enable playback control from a dedicated rara.com widget on your Android device home screen.

Growing music catalogue

rara.com today announces licensing agreements with thousands of independent labels through deals with global rights agency Merlin and leading independent digital distributors The Orchard, INgrooves Fontana, Believe Digital and VidZone Digital Media. Building on rara.com's existing catalogue, the independent label deals increase rara.com's global music catalogue to 18 million licensed tracks.

New markets

Having gone live in 20 territories over the last 10 months, rara.com launches across seven new countries today: Brazil, Mexico, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, South Africa, Portugal, bringing rara.com to a total of 27 markets worldwide with further international expansion planned for later this year.

Consumers can now access rara.com in: UK, Ireland, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Portugal, US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia and South Africa.

International marketing campaign

rara.com's expansion will be supported by an international above-the-line marketing campaign utilizing a range of digital marketing techniques initially across six countries; USA, UK, Australia, Germany, Spain and Sweden.

Unique introductory pricing

Access to rara.com costs just 99p/99c per month for the first 3 months followed by a flat fee of £/€/$4.99 per month for online access (web), with mobile access to rara.com on iOS, Android and Windows 8 devices (web + mobile) just £/€/$1.99 per month for the first 3 months then £/€/$9.99 per month or local equivalent.*

Independent label quotes:

The Orchard, CEO Brad Navin commented," "We're happy to have partnered with such a fast growing and innovative service like rara.com and eager to make our catalogue available to its' users. Now, they will have access to tracks from indie favorites like Poliça to classics like Dionne Warwick."

Believe Digital Managing Director, UK & USA Stephen King said, "Believe is delighted to bring its catalogue to rara.com.  It's good to see a streaming service like rara.com come out of the UK, the spiritual home of modern music, and grow so rapidly to compete in the global music arena with established players."

VidZone Digital Media Founder and CEO Adrian Workman said, "With licensed content from VidZone and other independents rara.com has nearly doubled its global catalogue of licensed repertoire in less than a year and now rara.com's users have access to more music, on more devices in more countries than ever before."

INgrooves International MD Alex Branson said, "We are proud to bring the INgrooves Fontana catalogue to music lovers around the world on very user-friendly rara.com."

*International pricing

International subscription pricing for rara.com:

    Territory    Currency Subscription package pricing
                            DIS                DIS
 
                            web     web     web + mobile web + mobile
    US           USD        0.99    4.99       1.99         9.99
    Canada       CAD        0.99    4.99       1.99         9.99
    UK           GBP        0.99    4.99       1.99         9.99
    Ireland      EUR        0.99    4.99       1.99         9.99
    France       EUR        0.99    4.99       1.99         9.99
    Germany      EUR        0.99    4.99       1.99         9.99
    Italy        EUR        0.99    4.99       1.99         9.99
    Spain        EUR        0.99    4.99       1.99         9.99
    Portugal     EUR        0.99    4.99       1.99         9.99
    Austria      EUR        0.99    4.99       1.99         9.99
    Belgium      EUR        0.99    4.99       1.99         9.99
    Luxembourg   EUR        0.99    4.99       1.99         9.99
    Netherlands  EUR        0.99    4.99       1.99         9.99
    Finland      EUR        0.99    4.99       1.99         9.99
    Denmark      DKK        9.99   49.99      19.99        99.99
    Norway       NOK        9.99   49.99      19.99        99.99
    Sweden       SEK        9.99   49.99      19.99        99.99
    Switzerland  CHF        0.99    5.99       1.99        11.99
    Australia    AUD        0.99    7.99       2.99        12.99
    New Zealand  NZD        1.99    7.99       2.99        13.99
    Mexico       MXN       12.99   63.99      23.99       127.99
    Brazil       BRL        1.99    7.99       2.99        15.99
    Singapore    SGD        0.99    4.99       1.99         9.99
    Hong Kong    HKD        4.99   28.00      10.99        48.00
    Taiwan       TWD       30.00  149.00      55.00       249.00
    Malaysia     MYR        1.99    8.99       2.99        16.99
    South Africa ZAR        6.99   33.99      13.99        68.99

About rara media group

rara.com is the new global digital music service designed for the mass-market, where you do not need to be a music expert or a technology enthusiast to use the service.  Your music subscription ensures the service is clutter-free with no intrusive advertising. rara.com is provided by rara media group limited, a private company headquartered in London. Licensed by all of the major labels; Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, EMI Music and Warner Music Group the global rights agency Merlin and leading independent digital distributors including The Orchard, INgrooves Fontana, Believe Digital and VidZone Digital Media.  rara.com is powered by digital music service provider Omnifone.

Further information:

Tim Hadley
rara.com
+44(0)7976410001
thadley@rara.com