RIM announces video and music catalogues for BlackBerry World

Research In Motion has stated that the new BlackBerry World storefront (formally known as the BlackBerry App World) for BlackBerry 10 will offer what the company claims is one of the most robust music and video catalogues in mobile today. The new BlackBerry World will include an extensive catalogue of songs, movies and TV shows, with most movies coming to the store the same day they are released on DVD, and next day availability of many TV series. The offering will feature content from all major studios, music labels and top local broadcast networks. Customers will be able to preview tracks and access the content using multiple payment options.

“Music and video content is an integral part of a rich mobile experience. People want easy and convenient access to their favourite music, movies and TV shows wherever they are,” said Frank Boulben, Chief Marketing Officer at Research In Motion. “RIM is committed to working with content providers to bring the best, most up-to-date content to our customers with BlackBerry 10, and to make it easy for them to get what they want.”

Music, TV and movies coming to BlackBerry too.

The video download and rental section in BlackBerry World will initially be available in the US, UK and Canada. Varying by region and distributor, customers will have access to movies from the following studios and independents: 20th Century Fox, Entertainment One (eOne), Lionsgate, MGM, National Film Board of Canada, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (US), Starz Digital Media, STUDIOCANAL, The Walt Disney Studios, Universal Pictures (UK), Warner Bros.

TV shows from the following broadcasters and studios will also be available: ABC Studios, BBC Worldwide, CBC/Radio-Canada, CBS, DHX Media, ITV, National Geographic, NBCUniversal (UK), Nelvana, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (US), Starz Digital Media, Twentieth Century Fox Television, Univision Communications Inc, and Warner Bros.

The BlackBerry World storefront’s DRM-free music download section will feature an extensive catalogue from all major and independent labels, including: 4AD Records, Domino Recording Company, finetunes, Matador Records, [PIAS] Entertainment Group, Rough Trade Records, Sony Music Entertainment, The Orchard, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, XL Recordings and Zebralution. The music section will initially be available in 18 countries: Canada, USA, UK, Argentina, Brazil, Columbia, Mexico, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, Australia, India, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore.

RIM rebranded the BlackBerry App World to BlackBerry World back in January. RIM wrote about this change in a blog post: "The naming change reflects a shift in the type of things you can purchase from the store as we transition to BlackBerry 10 and beyond."

The changes to the store have reflected on the web version already, but RIM has said that the roll out to PlayBook Tablets and BlackBerry smartphones will be gradual. It said that the update will be coming to BlackBerry devices "in the coming weeks" and has cautioned that it can take up to 24 hours for this change to reflect on devices.