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I use Skype frequently now that I am in Netherlands until April 2006 and I need it to get in touch with my wife for a cheaper price. So basically a call from Skypeout to a Malaysian mobile numbers cost around USD 0.02 which is fairly half the price of what Maxis Mobile (Malaysia) will charge for a call from a Malaysian mobile (Maxis) to my Netherlands fixed line. Skype's been helping me to reduced my pocket expenses and more companies are using it to keep in touch with customers worldwide.

It's not a suprise that Skype has entered into a deal with Warner Music Group and while the deal is announced as for Ringtones, sources say that last week at MIDEM the talk in the hallways and on the luxury ships in the harbor that it was that it's for more than simply that, with Ringbacktones as likely also as well as the announced artist images. The deal which is global in nature was struck here in the USA and led by the Skype USA team, according to Skype sources.

This is much like what Yahoo has also been planning to integrate into their Voice and IM roll out of the new Yahoo Messenger.

Music industry sources tell me that Warner Music has a strategy in place to go beyond the ringtone and break the .99 cent per download per track approach that has been established largely by Apples iTunes. One of the rumors floating around is that Skype, with their built in Video approach will be able to send snippets of music videos, interviews and live concert footage over their pipe to the end user, and hence the reported $1.50 price point will allow for that, though at the time of writing neither Skype or Warner Music were available to comment.

While the popularity of digital music has grown, the sale of physical CDs has declined dramatically. In its last quarter, WMG significantly outperformed analyst expectations, with revenues topping $905 million and digital music sales accounting for 6 percent of total sales.

While the popularity of digital music has grown, the sale of physical CDs has declined dramatically. In its last quarter, WMG significantly outperformed analyst expectations, with revenues topping $905 million and digital music sales accounting for 6 percent of total sales.