Motorola Cozies Up to Napster for ROKR

Motorola severed its ties with Apple on Tuesday, announcing that it would partner with Napster in the US, UK and German markets to bring the subscription music service to its new ROKR phones.

While the first phase of the marketing agreement between the companies will place the Napster To Go service on the ROKR Z6, Motorola said it would also look into other ways to integrate the music service with its product lines.

Motorola customers would also be eligible for one free month of Napster To Go, which would be offered through in-box and aftermarket promotions. European consumers would also receive five free permanent downloads.

The first offerings will be launched in the second half of this year, and the service will use Windows Media DRM that is built into Motorola's new ROKRs.

"We are very pleased to announce this new global relationship which supports our focus on driving adoption of our subscription model by attaching to music enabled cell phones which are expected to become the dominant device for portable music over the next few years," Napster CEO Chris Gorog said.

The announcement comes on the same day as Motorola launched the RAZR 2 and two new Q smartphones, intended for the European market.