7digital Bringing Aggressively Priced Music to BlackBerry Users

Not being a BlackBerry user, I was a bit confused to read this subject line over on CNET…

Over-the-air downloads come to BlackBerry

I was pretty sure BlackBerry users could download apps from their mobile browser and install them over a wireless data connection. So, what was this news about? It turns out this is about the “other” important download type: Music.

A third party, 7digital, now provides over-the-air (OTA) music downloads for newer BlackBerry models like the Storm, Bold and Tour. The song files are available as DRM-free (no copy protection) MP3 files. The service lets you download a low quality file (not defined in the article) when downloading using 3G (or less) and then provides a high quality 320Kbps format file when the BlackBerry is on a known WiFi network.

7digital’s pricing is very aggressive: The standard pricing for individual songs will be 77 cents while albums will be priced at $7.77. And, here’s another nice feature: 7digital’s free digital locker service lets you redownload your purchased songs if you somehow lose them. I wish Apple’s iTunes had this feature.

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