Vodafone claims Europe's largest base of digital music subscribers

According to Vodafone nearly 450,000 of its customers have signed up for music subscription services since it signed digital rights management free MP3 music deals with all major labels in 2009.

Two million tracks are currently available through the DRM-free library with Vodafone claiming it will grow to 6 million in 2010.

In December 2009 over 100,000 customers signed up to one of a range of music services offered across Europe with Vodafone claiming growth fuelled by the monthly 10-track MP3 bundles as well as from the unlimited access, all you can eat subscription services.

Prices start at €3 a month for all you can eat access to Vodafone’s digital music library when bundled with data tariffs while customers will typically get 10 tracks per month for around €5. MP3 files bought in bundles can be played on a wide range of computers and digital music players.

However, Vodafone faces tough competition in this increasingly crowded digital music download market. Yesterday HP and Omnifone announced a partnership to bring a digital music service to desktops and laptops for £8.99 a month.