Motorola to close down Motomusic stores

The US-based handset maker Motorola today said it was closing its music application store — Motomusic — in India.

“We are streamlining our portfolio and will be introducing Android-based smartphones that will allow us to give consumers and customers access to a broad ecosystem of experiences. This means Motomusic and Soundbuzz are no longer core to our market strategy,” Motorola said in a statement.

However, the Motomusic service in China would not be impacted, it added.

Last year, the handset maker had launched its portal Motomusic store in India offering more than 3,50,000 tracks and other multimedia contents like wallpapers and videos for download.

Motomusic India has put up a notice asking users to download all the songs purchased, back them up and redeem any vouchers and prepaid coupons before July 15.

“The last day of operation for the store is July 15, 2009. From midnight of July 15, the store will not be available for purchases or redemptions and your account and previous purchases will not be accessible,” it added.

However, its rivals are gearing up to launch similar application-based shops in the country. While Motorola is pulling out the music application, its bigger rival Nokia India is planning to launch its music store in the country.

Analysts tracking the sector feel, among various value-added services, music and gaming are going to be the major driving forces in boosting revenue.