Montreal’s Stingray Digital launches Galaxie Mobile, an ad-free music streaming service on the go

Montreal’s Stingray Digital, Canada’s leader in interactive music, has launched Galaxie Mobile, the first Canadian-owned, commercial-free mobile streaming music service.

Galaxie Mobile takes the popular Galaxie music service, already available online and in more than 10 million Canadian homes via cable, satellite and IPTV, to the “third screen”—mobile devices.

The new service offers Galaxie’s 45 commercial- and talk-free channels and adds interactive controls. Listeners can skip songs to get to the music they love and can purchase their favourite songs directly on iTunes via the Galaxie Mobile player.

An independent national survey by Vision Critical found that Galaxie’s channels were listened to by more than one-third of all Canadians (35%) in the past month and by more than one in five Canadians (21%) in the past week. More than half of Canadians (58%) have listened to Galaxie at some point in the past, according to Vision Critical.

“Now Canadians can enjoy all the Galaxie music they play at home while they’re on the move, from coast to coast,” says Eric Boyko, president of Stingray Digital. “Galaxie Mobile not only expands the music experience for millions of current Galaxie listeners, but also extends it to new listeners.” Eric adds, “The addition of a mobile service to the Galaxie line-up demonstrates Stingray’s commitment to providing more choice to our listeners on multiple platforms, as well as our commitment to supporting Canadian music talent which is featured on all 45 channels.”

The player is available in Canada for the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and all Android devices. It iwll eventually be available in the U.S. and on BlackBerrys. The Galaxie Mobile app is a free download. The subscription fee is $4.99 per month following a seven-day free trial period. A 3-month option for $9.99 or an annual subscription for $39.99 is also available.

“We welcome the launch of Galaxie Mobile into Canada’s fast-growing digital music market with this pioneering agreement representing more than 1500 rights holders between AVLA and SOPROQ,” says Victoria Shepherd, Executive Director of AVLA. “By providing a “one-stop” shop for licensing with both major and independent music labels, we have created an accessible template for other semi-interactive services that want to come to Canada.”

“Stingray is an excellent partner for our members as we work hard to create a new paradigm for licensing services in Canada,” says Graham Henderson, President of Music Canada. “Our priority is to get these services operating here as quickly as possible. We understand that the regulatory environment can be cumbersome and confusing for many digital service providers but our members are aggressively pursuing innovative mechanisms. AVLA provides the perfect liaison.”

Lyette Bouchard, Directrice Générale, Société de gestion collective des droits des producteurs de phonogrammes et de vidéogrammes du Québec (SOPROQ), remarks, “The launch of a Canadian service such as this; that is legal, attractive and competitive is an important evolution of online music services. The Galaxie Mobile service will certainly help to steer music lovers away from practicing piracy.”