Divine Calling relies on Faith West for CCM Ringtones
Contemporary Christian Music Takes a Leap of Faith to Wireless
SAN FRANCISCO (June 30, 2004) - Faith West Inc. announced today the launch of Divine Calling, a mobile ringtone service offering top hits of the contemporary Christian music (CCM), gospel and worship genre. Divine Calling will be introduced first to U.S. Cellular customers and will roll out on additional carriers throughout the year. (www.faithwestinc.com)
"Mobile music is a new medium for inspiration and praise," said Carolynne Schloeder, president of Faith West. "With Divine Calling we've created a wireless service exclusively for fans of spiritual music."
CCM and gospel music sales figures command respect in the marketplace. According to the Gospel Music Association, last year's sales represent 7.14 percent of all music sales -- which puts gospel music sales ahead of Latin, jazz, classical and soundtrack categories.
Divine Calling offers music licensed from the industry's leading music publishers, including EMI CMG, Brentwood-Benson, and Word Music Publishing. The selection includes versions of More to Life by Stacie Orrico, Show You Love by Jars of Clay, Redeemer by Nicole Mullen, Meant to Live by Switchfoot, and Here I Am to Worship by Tim Hughes, plus many more.
"A lot of our customers are interested in Christian music, and Divine Calling is the perfect place to find it," said John Cregier, senior director of data services and strategy for U.S. Cellular. "Faith West works with the best names in the industry to deliver some of the most popular Christian music songs out there, giving our customers choices for personalizing their ringtones."
The service launches on the LG VX6000 handset through easyedgeSM, U.S. Cellular's next generation wireless data service. Ringtones are $1.49 each, with discounts for multiple purchases. Divine Calling genres will include CCM AC, CCM Pop, CCM Rock, Worship and Gospel.
About Faith West Inc.
Faith West makes mobile phones rock. A wholly owned subsidiary of publicly traded Japanese corporation Faith, Inc., Faith West delivers high-impact mobile content to consumers and wireless carriers. Its flagship brand is Modtones. The company also provides service to licensees of its parent company's software based mobile sound solutions worldwide, including authoring tools to create mobile content in the proprietary CMX® multimedia format developed by QUALCOMM with Faith technology. Faith West is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. http://www.faithwestinc.com
About U.S. Cellular
U.S. Cellular Corporation (AMEX: USM), the nation's eighth largest wireless service carrier, provides wireless service to more than 4.5 million customers in 147 markets throughout 26 states. The 20-year-old, Chicago-based company operates on a customer satisfaction strategy, meeting customers' needs by providing a comprehensive range of wireless products and services, superior customer support, a high quality network and targeted community outreach activities.
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