Music downloads from Verizon

“Me too! Me too!” scream the people over at Verizon. With Sprint’s launch late last year of a music download service, Verizon Wireless wants a piece of the pie as well before their subscribers consider jumping ship. Whereas Sprint Nextel, the nation’s number 1 service provider, is charging $2.50 per song download, Verizon is doing just a bit of undercutting, setting their price at a mere $1.99 a song. If you opt to download it onto your computer first, that price gets cut in half. That’s right, a 99-cent music download.

Search for your favorite song either over the internet at home, or via your phone’s browser, and you are that much closer to racking up the charges on your Verizon phone.

With the price of voice calls quickly dropping, mobile providers are seeking new ways to generate revenue. Mobile music downloads are but one strategy, with the quickly-growing popularity of mobile TV, streaming video, and other cellular innovations.

Look for Verizon’s music store to open on January 16, with reportedly 1 million songs available at launch. Can you hear me now?