Crest Digital's in-flight entertainment (IFE) division fl'air entertainment is pressing forward with the launch of a new service that will give passengers the ability to download the customized music programming they hear as part of their IFE experience, in a move that could provide a new ancillary revenue stream for airlines.
Powered by partner DMX's Sonic Tap digital music service, fl'air's customized playlists can be tailored to exemplify the music of a certain region, to promote a new destination or to support other promotions by the airline, and can be offered on either the airline's own web site or via a specially-designed portal.
"For airlines that don't have the latest in-flight connectivity, passengers can go to the airlines' web sites at home or in their hotel room to download the playlists," says Beth Almberg, senior vice-president and general manager of fl'air. If the airline offers airborne high-speed Internet, she notes, passengers can download the music from the airline's web site while inflight.
The fl'air executive says the music download service is among myriad solutions being studied by media services firm Crest Digital to improve the passenger experience. "We're finding in the research we're doing that the airline industry and the passenger experience is evolving so quickly and dramatically that we needed to step up the efforts to bring to airlines the technology for which Crest is known, but also to look at the consumer market and bring many of the innovations in the consumer market to airlines."
The firm's partnership with DMX is crucial to moving this agenda forward, says Almberg. "DMX is a global music company with strong relationships with authors, publishers and record labels, as well as expertise in negotiating licensing fees. Because DMX deals directly with labels and the music performing rights groups, we can virtually guarantee a reduction in licensing fees for onboard content, in addition to providing potential revenue generators such as the music download service."
Almberg says airlines are showing strong interest in the new service. "The airlines are very interested not only because it differentiates them but, as you can imagine, there is revenue generation that can be created."
"We're finding in the research we're doing that the airline industry and the passenger experience is evolving so quickly and dramatically that we needed to step up the efforts to bring to airlines the technology for which Crest is known, but also to look at the consumer market and bring many of the innovations in the consumer market to airlines."
The firm's partnership with DMX is crucial to moving this agenda forward, says Almberg. "DMX has all these is a global music company with and they have strong relationships with authors, publishers and record labels, as well as expertise in working with them and negotiating with them for licensing fees. Because DMX deals directly with labels and the music performing rights groups, we can virtually guarantee a reduction in licensing fees for onboard content, in addition to providing potential revenue generators such as the music download service."
Almberg says airlines are showing strong interest in the new service. "The airlines are very interested not only because it differentiates them but, as you can imagine, there is profit sharing or revenue generation that can be created."
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
