Guardian Media Group Radio is to launch Hear It Buy It Burn It across its three radio brands after the company became the first radio group to sign a partnership deal with GWR to use the pioneering technology it developed this year.
GWR will supply GMG Radio with a bespoke service that will enable listeners to its JAZZFM, Real Radio and Smooth FM stations to legally download music via the internet that they hear broadcast on air.
The service, which will launch first on Real Radio in Wales, Scotland and Yorkshire at the end of January 2005, will mean listeners can download thousands of songs in C D quality to their computers in under two minutes, listen to them and burn them onto a C D if they wish.
John Simons, Group Programme Director of GMG Radio, told RadioMad.net: ?This service will offer our listeners a whole new and instant way of buying the music they love.?
John Hirst, GWR?s New Products Manager said: ?We are delighted to have GMG Radio as our first customer for Hear It Buy It Burn It. Our objective is to work with our peers in the radio industry to drive and develop legal music downloading through the one-to-one relationship with listeners that radio enjoys.?
?Hear It Buy It Burn It? has a large catalogue of tracks from record companies including Warner, BMG, EMI, Universal and Sony.