Tuesday, July 20, 2010

MP3tunes and Roku Partner To Bring Personal iTunes Music Collection To TVs

An Industry First: No PC or home server required to play iTunes music libraries on Home Entertainment Systems

San Diego, CA - For the first time, music lovers can play their personal iTunes music collection on their TV without a home server. Roku, the market leader in streaming entertainment devices has added expanded support for personal music collections with the addition of MP3tunes. Available now on all Roku players, the MP3tunes channel connects securely to a customer's personal music stored online in their MP3tunes Locker. After a few simple steps to connect and sync music to a web-based locker, any Roku becomes a rich music player.

"Now customers can get their music library to their TV without the complexity or cost of a home server," said Michael Robertson, CEO of MP3tunes. "For less than $100, iTunes users or any music enthusiast can turn a TV into a home stereo and take advantage of the best speakers in their house."

Roku customers can find the free MP3tunes channel in the Roku channel store. By adding this channel to their Roku, customers can access their song libraries and playlists which have historically been available only on their PC in iTunes or portable players which they sync. The MP3tunes channel defaults to a one-click shuffle mode, which immediately plays a random mix of music along with a visual display of accompanying cover art. Customers may choose to browse their music and select artists, albums or playlists to hear.

All Roku customers receive 10GB of free storage space for their music which, on average, will store music libraries up to 2,500 songs. Additional storage for larger music collections is available with MP3tunes premium locker accounts up to 200GBs. For a limited time, customers may also buy a Roku player with a $30 discount and get a free MP3tunes Premium Locker. See www.mp3tunes.com/rokubundle for more information.

"Roku customers are increasingly taking advantage of streaming music services, and now with MP3tunes we are giving them access to their full iTunes music library right on the TV," said Jim Funk, vice president of business development for Roku, Inc. "In addition to being a terrific video player with support for Netflix, Amazon Video on Demand, and a whole host of other great sports and entertainment content, the Roku player is also a gateway to rich audio entertainment thanks to MP3tunes."

By choosing Roku as its first launch partner in the home entertainment category, MP3tunes joins major streaming services like Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX), Amazon Video On Demand (Nasdaq: AMZN), MLB.TV, and the Ultimate Fighting Championship®. The Roku digital video player joins a growing family of devices that play music from a secure MP3tunes locker including Apple iPhone, iTouch, Google Android and Logitech radios. MP3tunes' unique open music API (www.mp3tunes.com/api) allows any net aware device for car, home, mobile to play a personal music collection.

A video tour of the service can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/user/mp3tunes#p/u/6/ctn4Dx0IGPE

About MP3tunes:
Based in San Diego, California, MP3tunes was launched in February of 2005 by CEO and founder Michael Robertson (founder of MP3.com). MP3tunes is a Music Service Provider (MSP) and the home of the MP3tunes Locker: the only secure, online music space to feature unlimited listening. With just a couple clicks, Locker users can sync their personal digital music and videos up to "the cloud" to enjoy from any web browser and a wide variety of mobile and home entertainment devices. The MP3tunes Locker is available in an ad-supported Free edition and in Premium levels with more storage space, support for larger media files, and full customer support. www.mp3tunes.com

About Roku, Inc.
The market leader in streaming entertainment devices for the TV, Roku has always believed that anything you want to watch, listen to, and enjoy should simply be there on your TV, whenever you want it. Over half a million happy customers later, Roku streaming players are renowned for their simplicity, variety of entertainment choices, and exceptional value. Roku is privately held and based in Saratoga, Calif. For more information on the company and its products, visit: http://www.roku.com.

iTunes is a registered trademark of Apple Inc.