BlackBerry Messenger Music enters beta

Rich Fiscus
25 Aug 2011 17:11

Research In Motion (RIM) has just begun a closed beta for their BlackBerry Messenger based subscription music service, BBM Music. Beta testing is being conducted exclusively in Canada, the US and the UK.
The full service is expected to launch in Australia, Canada, Colombia, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, the US, and the UK later this year.

As we reported earlier this week, BBM Music will cost $4.99 USD. Prices may vary by country.
Mike Lazaridis, RIM President and Co-CEO, said:

We have partnered with leading music companies to provide a ‘full track’ music sharing and discovery experience that will provide users with quality music on demand and allow them to connect with friends on a whole new level.

BBM Music's features are basically what we already reported, although we have a few more details.

• Music from all four major labels is available
• You can select up to 50 songs
• No more than 25 song selections may be swapped out per month
• Songs may be downloaded to the subscriber's BlackBerry or streamed across an internet connection
• You can setup a personal "community" to share BBM Music tracks. Other people's tracks don't count against your 50 song limit
• You can create playlists which include both your own and your friends' music