Orange unveils music-focussed Monkey tariff

Music lovers looking for a new mobile may be interested in an announcement from Orange this week that aims to bring more audio options to its range of pay-as-you-go handsets.

The network unveiled the details of a new partnership with 4Music and Universal that will create an online catalogue of “hundreds of thousands” of tracks, as well as a web community with access to a range of facilities.

Named Monkey, the tariff will allow subscribers to not only download free songs every time they top up their Orange mobile phone, it will also give them the opportunity to engage with other users, share playlists and create their own content.

Exclusive competitions, the latest showbiz news and gossip, and a number of other options will also be made available – and free text messages will be thrown into the package as well.

The carrier claimed the service will be primarily aimed at 16 to 24 year-olds and will be linked to a host of social networking facilities. It explained that easy access to music will be a priority of the Monkey tariff, while the extra hassle of download fees and the necessity to invest in a top-end handset will be removed.

Chief executive officer of Orange UK Tom Alexander said it was these particular traits that made the announcement very different to many of the products which already exist on the market.

“Monkey is for everyone,” he said. “All you need to do is top up to get free music on any handset or online.”

Orange is now offering the Toshiba TG01 exclusively to its UK customers.