Sony Ericsson Preloads Madonna's Hard Candy on Its Phones

Warner Music and Sony Ericsson announced yesterday the future availability of Madonna's "Hard Candy" album on lots of Sony Ericsson's Walkman phones that will be sold in during 2008. More exactly, the collaboration between the two companies will bring the latest album of the now legendary singer on select handsets commercialized starting this months in the following countries: Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, Venezuela, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Honduras and Jamaica.

The "Hard Candy phones" will be sold in two types of packages: one with only five songs from the album and one with the full-length album, both including, besides music, Madonna wallpapers and ringtones.

"Hard Candy" content is already available on the W890 Walkman handsets sold in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Moreover, users from Belgium and the Czech Republic who buy the W380i phone also get a CD with Madonna's latest album.

"The evolution of mobile handsets along with technological convergence continues to open up new ways for us to distribute and market our artists' music", said John Reid, Vice Chairman of Warner Music International and President of Warner Music Europe, in a press release appeared on Warner's official website. "This partnership with Sony Ericsson further expands HARD CANDY's global promotional reach and puts exciting content from the album direct into the hands of Madonna fans all over the world. Not only that, packaging music from a global megastar with new Sony Ericsson phones will help drive sales of music-enabled devices and contribute to the uptake of mobile music."

Well, with the new Madonna offering that Sony Ericsson and Warner have prepared, I guess her fans should be more than thrilled - especially those from Latin America, where most of the new "campaign" is rolled-out.