BBM Music launched by RIM

It looks like last week’s rumors turned out to be true. RIM is launching BBM Music (beta), a new social music service that lets users setup a musical profile of 50 songs (I think of it as your musical “DNA”) that can be streamed or downloaded to their Blackberry device. Users can then invite BBM (Blackberry Messenger) friends to join them and share their own favorite songs. Once connected every member of a group can listen to the 50 songs from others. Large BBM Music networks can then have an impressive array of songs available at any time for listening. It is possible to shuffle songs from the whole network.

The current beta of BBM music allows for up to 140 connections per user – which is still plenty from a musical perspective. A wireless  connection may not always be available, so songs can be stored on the local phone storage.

There are 10 Million songs in the catalog, and RIM hopes that BBM Music will become ” the mixed tape for a new generation of mobile music users”. Social interaction goes beyond music sharing: users can comment, like and share ideas and suggestions.

The service is not free however. There will be a one-month trial period, then it will cost $4.99 per month. It is also possible to buy music from the Blackberry Music Store. Right now BBM Music beta is launching in the USA, UK and Canada, but it should be available to all Blackberry Markets by the end of the year.

Hubert Nguyen
Categories: Breaking, Cellphones
Tags: BBM, BlackBerry, RIM, social networks