Thumbplay Music Launches on iPhone 4: Introduces Background Play

Thumbplay Music Launches on iPhone 4: Introduces Background Play

Leads the Way Among Cloud-Based, On-Demand Music Services in Delivering Multi-tasking for the iPhone

NEW YORK, July 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Thumbplay®, the leading provider of mobile entertainment in the U.S., announced today that its cloud-based Thumbplay® Music(TM) service is available on iPhone® OS 4. Thumbplay Music takes advantage of the iOS 4's long-awaited multi-tasking capabilities, allowing users to listen to their favorite tracks while performing other functions (checking e-mail, surfing the Web, etc.) as the service plays with a minimized screen in the background. Thumbplay Music has featured background play on Android(TM) and BlackBerry® smartphones since launch (May 2010 and March 2010, respectively). Thumbplay Music is still the only cloud-based subscription music service available on all three major smartphone platforms -- iPhone, Android and BlackBerry -- making it the most widely available cloud-based music service in the U.S.*

Said Evan Schwartz, CEO and Co-Founder of Thumbplay: "Our number one objective is to deliver a great music experience for our customers. Background play is the top-requested feature among Thumbplay Music's iPhone subscribers, and that demand has gone through the roof since the launch of the iPhone 4. We're proud to continue to set the bar for cloud-based music services."

With more than nine million tracks under license from all major labels and more than 35,000 independent labels, Thumbplay Music is a next generation music service. Built by experts in mobile content delivery, Thumbplay serves the rapidly growing market of U.S. smartphone users which is forecasted to grow to 160 million people by 2013.**

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

-- Unlimited, on-demand access to any artist or album; choose from
millions of songs
-- Build a personal music collection with Favorites and effortless
Playlist creation; auto-sync between smartphone and PC/Mac
-- Online and offline access: No connection? No problem! Listen to music
on the subway or in-flight. Available anytime, anywhere. (Offline
playback is currently available on BlackBerry smartphones. Android and
iPhone coming soon.)
-- Genie for music discovery: Instantly generate customized
recommendations from select songs - it's a great way to quickly build
playlists that you know you're going to love while discovering new
music
-- Music Sharing: Stream songs live on Facebook - select "Share" by
right-clicking on any of the millions of songs within Thumbplay
Music's desktop app. Share music with specific friends or with
everyone in your Facebook network - also coming soon for Twitter(TM)
-- 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.
-- Free, "no strings attached" three-day trial; subscriptions are then
available for $9.99/month.

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 is leveraging its existing network of more than 8,000 distribution partners to promote Thumbplay Music. Click on the following link to watch a video demo of the app running on all platforms: http://bit.ly/b27GTY.

* NPD's wireless market research of smartphone unit sales to consumers: As of the first quarter of 2010, RIM (BlackBerry), Google (Android) and Apple (iPhone) collectively address 85% of smartphone users in the U.S.

** Yankee Group (2009)

ABOUT THUMBPLAY

Thumbplay, Inc. is the leading mobile entertainment provider in the U.S. Thumbplay Music, the company's cloud-based, streaming music service for smartphones and PCs/Macs, was launched in January 2010 with more than 9 million songs under license. 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. 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.

For a complete list of iPhone, Android and BlackBerry smartphones supported by Thumbplay: http://www.thumbplay.com/devices.

All trademarks property of their respective owners. No partnerships implied.

Contact:
Susan Lietz
Susan.Lietz@thumbplay.com
(+1) 917.499.5053

Source: Thumbplay

CONTACT: Susan Lietz, +1-917-499-5053, Susan.Lietz@thumbplay.com

Web Site: http://www.thumbplay.com/

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