Bono on your Blackberry. Could there be a cooler combination?

If you’re a U2 fanatic, today is an exciting day. Research In Motion is reportedly teaming with superstar recording group U2 for the release of a new mobile album.

For now, all reports are light on details. A blurb on BlackBerry.com, however, gives a quick synopsis of what appears to be a “U2 App” with music, photos, tour info and a few other morsels of insider information. As soon as more details are made available, you will be among the first to know if you sign up for an email notification on the status of the project.

Earlier this year, U2’s band manager Paul McGuiness foreshadowed “new and innovative ways to enhance the mobile music experience on the BlackBerry platform for U2 fans.”

The comments heightened speculation that a mobile album was in the works and we can now confirm the accuracy of those earlier suspicions.

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Just in time for the benchmark holiday of summer, Independence Day, Verizon Wireless is getting patriotic.

And we can join in the fun thanks to their patriotic ringtone and ringback jukebox. Verizon Wireless unveiled the two new ringback jukebox bundles this week, which will be available through the operator’s VZW Tones Deluxe service.

Customers can now choose from hundreds of patriotic, customizable tracks to prepare for whomever may ring for the Fourth of July:

· “American Pie,” by Don McLean
· “R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A.,” by John Mellencamp
· “Born In The U.S.A.,” by Bruce Springsteen
· “American Girl,” by Taylor Swift
· “Summertime,” by Herbie Hancock
· “You’re a Grand Old Flag,” by U.S. Military Academy Band
· “American Soldier,” by Toby Keith
· “Only In America,” by Brooks & Dunn
· “Good Vibrations,” by The Beach Boys
· “God Bless The U.S.A.,” by Neal E. Boyd
· “Star Spangled Banner,” by Jimi Hendrix
· “1812 Overture,” by U.S. Air Force Band
· “The Star Spangled Banner,” by Beyonce

Ringtones are available for $2.99 per ringtone, while individual ringback tones are available for an annual fee of $1.99.

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A major lawsuit is rocking the mobile world.

ASCAP, a performance rights organization abbreviated for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, isn’t happy with AT&T.

The organization claims that the ringtones supported by AT&T violates performance and copyright law when they are played in public.

As a result, ASCAP has filed suit against AT&T.

Although mobile carriers and content providers pay songwriters and music copyright owners a license fee to carry the downloadable ringtones, ASCAP contends it isn’t enough and that additional royalties are due.

Now.

The legal eagles are weighing in on both sides at this hour. And while it isn’t clear exactly what will happen, it’s unlikely that consumers will be deprived of their beloved ring tones as a result of the suit.

After all, if we want to listen to “Ice Ice Baby” when we’re in the middle of grocery shopping and our mom calls, that’s our prerogative entirely.

Not that I would know anything about that.

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After last night’s performance on the first installment of The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, all eyes are on are Pearl Jam today in the wake of news that the ledgends of rock may have big - and  somewhat unexpected - plans in the mobile realm.

After ending their nearly two-decade long affiliation with the Sony music, Pearl Jam’s forthcoming album, Backspacer, was initially believed to be planned only for release in stores and carry no mobile affiliation with any wireless carriers or digital platforms.

Not so fast.

Although nothing is confirmed and we’re dealing almost exclusively with rumors, there is reason to believe that Verizon Wireless will soon announce a deal to distribute music from the new album. After all, only a few months ago Verizon’s V Cast Music introduced a series of exclusive full-track downloads for the digitally remastered edition of Pearl Jam’s 1991 debut album.

With both the relationship and opportunity present, rumbings persist that Pearl Jam and Verzon wireless will soon announce yet another joint venture.

Stay tuned.

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On the heels of finally entering profitability, Pandora is seeing impressive growth in terms of mobile-based advertising revenue and the types of brands using the service to promote their products.  

With the launch of mobile apps for the iPhone, Blackberry and Windows Mobile, Pandora has seen subscriber growth reach well over 6 million mobile users.  This growing platform is ripe for integrated mobile marketing, and brands are starting to take notice.  What makes Pandora so appealing is the amount of time that users spend on the service creating stations, rating songs, and scrolling through playlists.  Pandora founder Tim Westergren claims that the service’s mobile users spend, on average, around 90 minutes a day using the service.

National brands have been using the service as sort of a testbed for different types of mobile marketing campaigns, and so far, the response rates have been very encouraging.  Target, for example, claims that 27 percent more people clicked on its Pandora ad promoting the release of Christina Aguilera’s greatest hits CD last autumn than on any other mobile web campaign.  Likewise, home music systems company Sonos said click through rates were typically 5 percent for their Pandora ads, compared to the usual 1-2 percent seen elsewhere on the mobile Web.

Most mobile Web services can’t hold consumers attention long enough for a successful mobile marketing campaign, but Pandora is one that can.  The nature of the service is perfect for almost all types of display advertising, mobile coupons and many others, and isn’t as limited as others have proved to be.  

Dockers, for example, offered a coupon, while Domino’s tried it out as a direct marketing tool, testing out ads that told mobile users to call to order a pizza.  It’s still rather early to speculate, but Pandora could prove to be a rock-solid platform for all types of mobile marketing- which is still rare these days.

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Apple, AT&T and Verizon Wireless are named along with its partner, mobile music discovery solutions provider Shazam, in a patent lawsuit targeting a Shazam application that purportedly “infringes on under-the-radar firm Tune Hunter’s music identification system.”

Although the eight page complaint doesn’t discuss in detail the problems or accusations pertinent to the individual companies named in the charges, the suit specifically includes Amazon.com, Napster, Motorola, Gracenote, and many others as direct beneficiaries of Shazam’s “alleged infringement.”

In a nutshell, Tune Hunter argues that “nearly a dozen technology companies are contributing to the infringement of the U.S. patent that outlines a music identification/purchasing system, specifically to a method for marking the time and the name of the radio station in portable device such as a key holder, watch, cellular phone, beeper or the like which will allow the user to learn via Internet or regular telephone the name of the song, artist and/or music company by matching the stored data with broadcast archive. The system will allow for purchase of the full length of the identified music item or related music.” Read the rest

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Hopefully, Depeche Mode will have a less controversial experience launching a mobile phone app than Nine Inch Nails did several weeks ago, when Apple refused to carry their revised app in their app store.

For now, all is fine in the world of music and mobile for Depeche Mode.

iZotope, Inc. and Mute Records have collaborated to launch the new app called iDrum: Depeche Mode Sounds of the Universe.

Available for the iPhone and iPod touch. iZotope’s iDrum apps let users “create music by tapping the touch screen and rearranging simple shapes and color combinations.”

The Depeche Mode edition of iDrum includes content from the band’s popular new album, Sounds of the Universe.

iDrum: Depeche Mode Sounds of the Universe is available for $4.99 on the Apple App Store (eat your heart out Nine Inch Nails) and includes “ten customizable kits” with sounds from songs on the album.

For those who love something to literally play with, you’re in luck. iDrum: Depeche Mode Sounds of the Universe also allows users to manipulate album sounds to create music by:

* Tapping the touch screen to play and record musical patterns
* Taking control of the rhythm of every drum sound and sample
* Remixing rhythmic patterns from the album or starting from scratch to make new musical creations
* Bringing sounds in and out of the mix to change the music
* Customizing patterns to create unique new beats

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