Sony makes deals for tracks on Walkman devices

Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE) has made two deals with Napster and 7digital.com to bundle music with "certain Walkman-branded portable music devices." Both deals apply to products sold in the United Kingdom, and offer similar vouchers and trials for tracks and the services to consumers.

Sony's deal with 7digital.com will package vouchers with the "Walkman Wirefree" series that give consumers the opportunity to download five free music videos. It is the first such deal with a hardware manufacturer for 7digital.com, a British-based digital store. Ben Drury, the company's CEO, acknowledges that the partnership is intended "to provide more choice for consumers, encourage more competition in the digital music market and ultimately offer a better deal for the consumer." The same devices will also come "pre-loaded with the Napster service" and those models will offer users "five free downloadable tracks, and a free 14-day trial of the Napster To Go service." Napster's VP of sales and marketing for Europe, Thorsten Schliesche, comments that the partnership is designed to "offer music lovers a complete service from the moment they purchase the product."

The goal of offering consumers and listeners a complete service right away indicates that at least hardware makers and digital stores are aware that music fans want the product. Easily available and quick access mean that users of this product will at least have access to a large range of tracks already available. Other devices have featured similar services, but never bundled with free music. Although the amount offered free of charge comes with limits, the ease of listening to future music should make it desirable.