Do you want to enjoy music service on your phone but you haven’t found the legal way yet? Now you can subscribe to MelOn from two mobile platforms; BlackBerry and Android. MelOn is a joint venture between Telkom and SK Telecom that lets you stream and download music. MelOn has more than 500.000 songs registered on its database.
In the middle of possibilities for foreign music digital services to start entering Indonesia, such as Deezer from France, the step done by MelOn is quite strategic which people has been waiting for. It is not a secret that MelOn takes people who listen to music more from mobile devices than from PC as the target market. As a company established by local community, MelOn has eminence on the number and the more complete collection of local songs. It might be equaled or defeated by foreign apps but surely needs a long time.
MelOn can be downloaded for free for BlackBerry platform on the App World page, while Android users have to download it by OTA on this link. The decision to make this application for those two platforms is actually based on the popularity of BlakBerry and Android platform for users. The Telkomsel users have privilege to subscribe this service for only IDR 20.000/month while other operator users have to pay IDR 15.000 for two weeks.
Actually, distributing songs in digital way is an alternative for musician to get revenue while ringback tone is still caught in the middle of the premium SMS debacle. With relatively inexpensive price, customers can listen to any songs they like – in retail (users pay for single item price).
Certainly, the critical thing is the payment method. The easiest way is by using operator billing or “credit deduction”. Aside from that, MelOn can also provide payment alternatives by using Internet banking (debit) or credit card and some other payment systems. I think all the things have been prepared well so we just need to see the execution which determines whether Indonesians will embrace MelOn as their streaming option.
