Thumbplay News

LAS VEGAS – 24 March 2010 – Thumbplay has announced that it will leverage Amazon Mobile Payments Service in its new cloud-based Thumbplay Music service. The new payment option for Thumbplay Music customers will be available on smartphones and PCs/Macs within the first half of 2010.

By utilizing Amazon Payments technology, Thumbplay now offers anyone with an Amazon.com account a convenient, secure way to pay for Thumbplay Music using the login credentials and payment information stored in their Amazon.com accounts. Customers can upgrade their Thumbplay Music accounts and purchase music a la carte (starting at 69 cents).

Said Evan Schwartz, CEO and Co-Founder of Thumbplay: “Our top priority is delivering a great customer experience and that includes everything from making our apps intuitive to delivering a deep catalog of on-demand music to giving consumers effortless payment options that they trust. We are excited to leverage Amazon Payments to make it simple for anyone with an Amazon.com account to subscribe to Thumbplay Music and get access to 8 million tracks on demand from Thumbplay.”

Mark Stabingas, GM, Amazon Payments, said: “We are pleased that Thumbplay is leveraging Amazon Payments to offer a quick, convenient way for Thumbplay customers to pay through their mobile devices and on their computers. Amazon Payments’ goal is to provide a great customer experience for Amazon.com account holders as they check out and pay for a wide variety of products and services, including digital goods such as music.”

Thumbplay Music includes its own in-app media player and boasts several compelling features, including:

• Unlimited, on-demand access to any artist or album; millions of songs to choose from
• Online and offline access. No connection? No problem! Listen to music on the subway or in-flight. Available anytime, anywhere.
• Effortless playlist creation; auto-syncs between smartphone and PC/Mac
• Playlist Genie for music discovery: instantly generate customized recommendations from favorite songs
• Build a personal music collection with Favorites; auto-sync between smartphone and PC/Mac
• Search: Find music by artist, song, album or genre; includes free previews of all songs
• Import existing iTunes^® playlists within Thumbplay Music’s companion desktop app. With a few clicks, recreate iTunes playlists and have them available on smartphone and PC/Mac.

The Thumbplay Music service includes a free, three-day trial of its unlimited, on-demand service. Thumbplay, which enjoys sustained profitability, has built an award-winning service centered on delivering millions of pieces of mobile content to 95 percent of U.S. devices among every major carrier. Thumbplay will leverage its existing network of more than 8,000 distribution partners to promote Thumbplay Music.

ABOUT THUMBPLAY

Thumbplay, Inc. is defining the mobile entertainment experience for U.S. consumers. Thumbplay.com features licensed music, video and games from some of the world’s largest entertainment companies, including: EMI, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group, as well as several independent labels and artists and video game companies. Headquartered in New York City, Thumbplay was founded in September 2004 by Are Traasdahl and Evan Schwartz. Investors include Bain Capital Ventures, SoftBank Capital, i-Hatch Ventures, Redwood Partners, New Enterprise Associates, Meritech, Brookside Capital Partners and Cross Creek Capital. More information can be found at www.thumbplay.com or at m.thumbplay.com from a mobile phone.

Forward Looking Statement
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to competition, management of growth, new products, services and technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.

# # #

All trademarks property of their respective owners. No partnerships implied. The BlackBerry and RIM families of related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Research In Motion Limited.

Contact:

Susan Lietz, Thumbplay

Susan.Lietz@thumbplay.com

(+1) 917.499.5053

# # #

Labels: press, press-release

posted by BusTed Love at 7:14 AM