I was invited to the Singtel AMPed event today which is held at Mandarin Oriental. Singtel AMPed is a music service similar to Nokia Comes with Music except that it is not tied down to any phones. It is a music service that you can enjoy regardless if you owned a Nokia, Samsung or a Sony Ericsson mobile phone. It is a free service for you if you are currently on 3G Flexi plans or you have the Broadband on Mobile (200MB) as a value added service.

Here are some of the key features taken from the press release:

• Interactive AMPed music portal with extensive search features: Customers can search the music store and browse for songs through the user-friendly interface with categories like ‘Artiste’, ‘Album’, ‘New Releases’, ‘Top Downloads’, ‘Recommended Hits’, ‘Shared Playlists’ and even playlists based on customers’ ‘Moods’. They can also access their favourite artiste’s blog and official website for the latest updates.
• Simple mobile application: Customers can download music easily through a specially designed user interface on their mobile phones. They can update their personal profiles anytime, access playlists from artistes and other members, and be updated with the latest music news.
• Auto-synchronisation of playlists: Playlists from the AMPed web portal or mobile application will be synchronised automatically in real-time.
• Chat function and album reviews, with direct links to social networking sites: Customers can upload reviews and comments instantly, allowing them to upload photos, share and chat about their experiences with other music lovers. They can even link their news to popular social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, offering even greater interaction.

Some more exclusive benefits:

• Select 15 songs to own and share every month. Customers can transfer them to various music playback devices, share them with friends and keep them indefinitely. Unused track entitlements can be cumulatively rolled over until the end of the subscription period.
• Meet their favourite stars and receive priority invitation to exclusive music showcases, autograph signings and meet-and-greet sessions up to six times a year, the first being the Lady Gaga showcase on 14 June.
• Access three full-length music videos, free of charge, on the interactive web portal. These videos are refreshed weekly. In addition, while customers are listening to their favourite hits, they can also preview clips of the music video, if available.

Similar with almost all mobile music services, the songs comes with DRM but you get to owned 15 songs every month. In another words, you can download 15 DRM-free songs every month. The file format for the DRM is of course WMA and the DRM-free songs should be MP3. I have not been able to confirm this as there are conflicting information on it.

The bitrate when you play on your PC should be 192kbps but on your phone it is 96 kbps. Again, I am unable to confirm this. Apparently DK and Nicole received different information about this as well. Nothing technical is said in the press release or the Q&A session.

*UPDATE* Music downloaded to PC is in 192kbps WMA format. Music downloaded to mobile is in 96kbps MP3 format. It’s the same for both DRM and DRM-free music.

Lady Gaga showcase is at 7pm tonight! Woot!

Here is a video of Lady Gaga making an entrance at Singtel AMPed:

Here are some videos from the Lady Gaga Showcase:

Press Release: Singtel AMPed
Facebook Gallery: Singtel AMPed

Nokia Music Store opens in Singapore with millions of songs
Music lovers gain easy access to music they love including locally relevant content

Singapore – Nokia announced today that the Nokia Music Store in Singapore is now “live”at www.music.nokia.com.sg. With millions of tracks from major international artists, independent labels and Asian content, the Nokia Music Store brings true freedom to music lovers letting people buy and enjoy music directly from their Nokia device or personal computer 24/7.

“Consumers now have instant access to millions of songs from a very wide gamut of genres ranging from pop to dance to Asian like Mandarin, Malay and Indian music. At the same time, users can enjoy the great usability that the Nokia brand is renowned for,” said Grant McBeath, General Manager, Nokia Singapore. By using the integrated mobile and PC download service, music lovers here can build a music collection that is truly mobile through the Nokia Music Store.”

“With the rising demand for digital music in Singapore, Nokia Music Store increases the options for consumers by leaps and bounds, as well as brings the artists closer to their audience through their mobile device, an intimate platform that is always with them,” said Gary See, Managing Director, Universal Music Singapore.

Music from Asian Artists
Besides making available the digital music from international labels at the Nokia Music Store, prominent independent labels in Asia including Ocean Butterflies Music and Rock Records Singapore have partnered with Nokia to distribute their content too. Additionally, RS Digital, an independent label from Thailand is offering Thai music via the Singapore site. The combined Asian music content by the international and Asian labels gives consumers a very comprehensive array of Chinese, Malay and Thai soundtracks in addition to local music.

“As a leading independent music powerhouse in Asia, Ocean Butterflies is proud to work with Nokia to offer a unique proposition to music lovers, particularly fans of Chinese pop. This is not only a milestone for Nokia, who has a long history of connecting people to each other, and to the music they love. It is also a key development for the music industry,” said Billy Koh, Ocean Butterflies Music founder and director.

Single Account Sign-on and Intuitive Interface
With a single account, music lovers can access the Nokia Music Store via their desktop computer or directly from optimized Nokia devices such as the Nokia N81, Nokia N82 and Nokia N95 8GB. In addition, users can sync easily from a PC with a wide range of Nokia models including the Xpress Music handsets, Nokia 5610 and Nokia 5310.

Browse for new music, get recommendations or stream favourite songs or albums all at the fingertips. The Store’s intuitive user interface allows users to easily add any song to a wishlist to buy later or purchase it immediately for download to your device, without having to download the same song again on your computer. Users can synchronise their music collection between their PC to compatible Nokia devices using Windows Media Player 11.

Pricing
Individual tracks cost S$2.00 per track and albums are from S$16.00 for most albums. The Nokia Music Store also offers unlimited PC streaming at S$16.00 per month. All music on the Nokia Music Store can be purchased through a variety of payment options, including credit cards, AXS machines and vouchers.

Consumers can also look forward to free tracks given out regularly, as well as the exclusive distribution of new albums or new tracks at the Nokia Music Store.

About Nokia Music Store
Nokia Music Store is a service where you can browse and buy music in order to download on your PC and compatible Nokia mobile device. Music downloaded from Nokia Music Store can be conveniently moved between your PC and compatible Nokia device, as well as copied to CD and moved on to compatible digital music players. Nokia Music Store also offers a monthly subscription service that allows you to stream unlimited music from the Store catalogue direct to your internet-connected PC. The Nokia Music Store is available in the United Kingdom, Germany, Finland, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia, France, and Singapore and will expand to more countries throughout the year. www.nokia.com/music

About Nokia
Nokia is the world leader in mobility, driving the transformation and growth of the converging Internet and communications industries. We make a wide range of mobile devices with services and software that enable people to experience music, navigation, video, television, imaging, games, business mobility and more. Developing and growing our offering of consumer Internet services, as well as our enterprise solutions and software, is a key area of focus. We also provide equipment, solutions and services for communications networks through Nokia Siemens Networks.

Source: Sent to me via email