Now that BBM Music is headed out to beta testers, we figured we'd do up a little video to show you all what it's about. With the BBM connected apps catalogue growing larger everyday, this is one app that truly shows off the power of such offerings. In the past, RIM has taken some heat for not really expanding their ecosystem to provide media offerings such as music and movies despite the fact BlackBerry devices capabilities to handle that content.
BBM Music is one step towards setting things right in that area. Wheter or not it'll be successful as a paid service remains to be seen but even in it's limited trial beta stages it shows some great potential for long term use depending on what RIM does with it. Caching of songs, sharing of songs, play list creation and BBM interaction make the app great but it's what RIM does with the service to help it be more appealable over time is what I'm looking forward to.
Reader comments
A quick look at BBM Music for BlackBerry!
pin:23543DF8 -J.Sin
How do u download this bbm music
I received an invite from betazone but when I download it either puts my 9800 into a reboot loop cycle or it says it successfully installed but the program is nowhere to be found on my device. Anyone else having this problem?
I just don't see this app sticking around after the novelty stage wears off. Realistically you are renting the songs from RIM. I'd rather own the music and be able to use it on different platforms. As well by streaming from RIM servers you are unecessarily using data -- when not in Wi-Fi mode -- and I mostly listen to music when driving (no Wi-Fi available).
Not only that, you are now flooding your BBM list in order to maximize the ammount of rental music you can access. This seems flawed as you can just plug in an iPod/Zune/Your media library on BB and access thousands of songs. I personally like my contact list to only be people I actually talk to. Maybe I am old fashioned in that sense.
I understand that the concept is to share and become aware of music. But I also don't see many people listening to a song from a band they never heard of just because their friend has it on their list.
I like RIM and love my BB, but this is an app I cannot get excited about.
I think this is going to do great things for BlackBerry, I can foresee people having 50- 100 contacts that they will be able to share with even if they never actually talk to those people on a daily basis. I wouldn't hesitate to add someone to my phone to get their 50 songs! You might find somebody that you really like their musical tastes!
I knew it . Gordon Lightfoot is Canadian . . .
Btw all you guys looking for invites, go to Blackberry Beta site (www.blackberry.com/beta) and there is survey available there to fill out. Within a day you get the invite for BBM music in your Blackberry Beta profile.
I did it last night and today I got the invite :)
Screw that app ???? ... what case is that Bla1ze ???
can't wait... need an invite pin:25D9EE45 please (hopefully before my 9900 from BB7 Fan Night shows up and I have to learn my new pin all over again =-D
Wow isn't this going to mean huge streaming charges? If the songs aren't saved to your phone which they aren't then it will all be streamed. What does the 5 bones a month cover? Doesn't sound like such a good idea if your data charges go through the roof.
This should be covered in your BIS plan as per understanding.
i cant see shit.
Stop knocking Gordon Lightfoot, he's awesome. Ballad of the Edmund Fitzgerald FTW!!!
Awesome song! It's one of those songs that I always listen to all the way through.
I'm excited to try the BB music service. I had one question about the 50 song list. If you put 50 songs on your list and listen to all the songs, can you then change out say 10 of them and select new songs? Or do you have to keep the same 50 songs on your list for 30 days, etc.?
I believe you can swap out 25 songs per month
Hi @donnyphone,
Douglas from RIM here. Just chiming in here to answer your question. The short answer is yes – you can swap out up to 25 songs in your playlist in any given month. Additionally, if we were BBM Music friends and I added a song you already had, you could swap out for a different song and still listen to it because we’re music buddies. BBM Music actually knows if a song you’re going to add to your playlist is already in your friend’s playlist, and will notify you so you don't have to subtract from your 50 song total.
If you have more questions on BBM Music, check out this post on our Inside BlackBerry Blog: http://bbry.lv/oMRcCg.
Cheers,
Douglas, RIM Social Media Team
@Douglas
Someone in this post above had a great idea about marketing a band on tour. My question is, will RIM be up to negotiating with independent labels and independent artists? Is it possible for artists not signed to one of the labels you have negotiated with to have their music added to BBM Music?
Can you give a link if there is one?
Trust me that's one of the reason I don't like RIM they're unfair not straight forward
I hope this service has lots of support from the independent labels. I also hope most hipsters have Blackberry's :). The idea of the mix tape, the idea of being introduced to new music, it's a service which could really help touring musicians. A band goes on tour and has a PIN, you subscribe, and have a listen to their music before they come to your town. You decide to go the the show, get some merch, the band makes a living! (or gas/beer money). Next month, next concert, next bunch of songs. I could see the social element to this service being really good for independent bands, it just seems it could be a way to stand out in an endless stream of music on the internet.
That's a GREAT Point.. a great way for a new band to get people to follow their music. All they need is a BBM pin. Artists can post it on their websites!..
This sounds like a great idea - but - I see the problem is that the music distributor determines the range in the whole playlist and the band will need to negotiate with them to get their songs on-board.
That is likely to be an expensive exercise!!
An individual can't add songs - an individual subscribes to the distributor who provides the list.
8 minutes 14 seconds is "A quick look" ! =P
Very cool idea. This is a fresh perspective from RIMM. That alone is refreshing. One impressive thing is how many things RIMM is actually launching at one time. Wow.
I'm getting this and trying it out with a couple of BBM friends. I think it is going to be very positive for expanding our music list and also have the fun upside of being social.
Not to get off track too much but I got my BB 9930 and it just rocks! It is amazing how big and crisp the screen looks and the keyboard is mind blowing. This is the best smart phone yet in my view.
Can you add someone to your Music contacts without adding them to your main BBM contact list?
I guess this is a nice addition to BBM, I mean googletalk has that "show current track" option & I never use it so I can't see myself using this option either but for some I'm sure they'll really use it.
Nice thing to develop! Good luck with BBM Music. :)
I see some huge flaws with this. 50 songs? and then only having access to songs if your friends share them with you. What happens as your friends decide hey don't want a song and you do. you must compromise yor existing list you already have.
The only competition i see with itunes is spotify. People have huge catalogs of music and want access to all there content whenever they want. Think of it like this:
1. Itunes provides ownership for a low cost and that is why it is king (right now).
2. Spotify will be challenging that by providing your whole catalog for a low monthly fee (which seems to be the soon standard).
2. BB Music offering 50 songs. maybe songs you might get extra if a friend has them for a low monthly fee.
So they should try and develop iTunes for BBM? I'm all for trying a new model and seeing how it works. Trying to out iTunes iTunes is destined to fail. I use Slacker, and briefly tried Spotify. IMO Slacker is way better for how I want to listen to music. I'll give BBM Music a try and see how it goes before I say "it's terrible" "it can't compete with iTunes" "I'm a fanbois, you suck". If I don't like it, then I won't continue to use it.
It's working under the premise that your friends don't hate you and as a group, people can decide who will get what music. There's no need to have a song if your friend has it. And if they plan on removing it, you can buy the song. That's the end game of music sites, to sell music.
Invite me please!!! : 32FB6D47
2 of my favorite things, music & . Woohoo. Invite me please my pin:22D49883
Give me an option for unlimited streaming/caching with high bitrate files and I may never use a torrent file again.
What is missing is the mention of use of data plan. I am sure that BBM Music works over cell networks and wifi but how do you stop someone from always playing songs from your phone? Or am I missing something here?
Its a music streaming service so only the songs in their database are sharable. When you share with someone it just gives them access to that song from BBM Music's database. Nothing is ever transferred from your phone.
You do get the option to store some of your songs locally, allowing to play them when you are not connected through WiFi or a Data plan.
You will not be able to share your own MP3's with this service, only songs on their database. You can still however play your own MP3's through the existing player on the phones.
You're missing something.... lol
it's not a peer to peer file sharing network! "they have access to your songs", meaning, they can also download and listen to the songs that are associated with your account. There is no direct connection to your phone.
...unless _I AM_ missing something! haha
Looking FWD to this. Not availiable to me in beta zone yet though. Help help! :-) 32FCCCFF
I got it also, its ok no big whowaw. It allows you to add 50 songs to your play-list, gives you the option to preview/buy songs, play full song or album. you can invite individuals or like i did an entire BBM group
I wanna try new BBM Music, pls invite me....
My pin is pin:232480cc
I live in Louisville, KY and during the 10pm news there was a news report on BlackBerry Music. It highlighted its main differentiating feature...you can share your music list with others. So maybe the marketing strategists for RIM are making some positive changes. BlackBerry on Prime Time news.
Invite please?
Ok man... the "go ahead" thing is getting a little distracting at this point.
Make sure you crank the video up to full screen viewing and turn on 720p... makes it a lot easier to see what's on the BB's screen!
not bad...lets see if it flies...
I wanna try new BBM Music, pls invite me....
My pin is pin:237E7BC0