Vodafone has made New Zealand music history with an exciting new initiative to support NZ Music Month. As of today, ten thousand handsets will be available, preloaded with 130 songs from some of the best Kiwi artists – including previously unreleased music.

The Nokia 6288, Motorola V6 MAXX and Sony Ericsson W200 handsets include Kiwi tunes from artists such as The Black Seeds to Th’ Dudes, Lucid 3 to Greg Johnson.  The phones range in price from $299 to $899.

The equivalent of $250 worth of New Zealand music has been preloaded, free to the customer, by Vodafone onto the handset’s memory card.

Vodafone Head of Music, Morgan Donoghue, says the initiative confirms Vodafone as New Zealand’s leading digital music supplier.

“This is the biggest one-off order of New Zealand songs in history with a total of 1.3 million songs in one hit.  Digital music is the way of the future and Vodafone is leading the charge.”

The Vodafone handsets include four previously unreleased tracks from Fat Freddy’s Drop as well as a number of Hollie Smith tracks from an EP which is no longer available.  The first song from her new album is also included.  Five songs from Unity Pacific’s new album feature as well as five songs from Opshop’s latest album, currently number three in the New Zealand music charts.

Other New Zealand artists featuring on the new preloaded handsets include Kora, Goldenhorse, The Brunettes, Goodshirt, Pluto, The Datsuns, Blindspott and The Mutton Birds.

Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) Chief Executive, Campbell Smith, says this is an exciting opportunity for New Zealand music and Vodafone’s offering shows a real commitment to New Zealand artists.

“The Vodafone handsets showcase a breadth and depth of Kiwi talent and this is a great way for artists to promote their sound to a wider New Zealand audience. It’s also a fantastic example of new ways to connect consumers with music for the benefit of our artists and industry.”

The Nokia 6288 and Motorola V6 MAXX are available at leading Vodafone outlets. The Sony Ericsson W200 is available from Vodafone’s online store at www.vodafone.co.nz.