Unlike the music services offered by other carriers, the Sprint Music Store is unique in that it is actually designed to download and play music right on your phone. The service takes advantage of Sprint’s EV-DO network, known to them as Power Vision, to transfer full length tracks to the handset, typically in about 30 seconds. Also, when you get back your PC, a copy of the songs can be downloaded and played there also.

The convenience of this truly mobile music store does come at a premium, with Sprint currently charging $2.50 per download, which is twice the normal rate of the traditional, computer based music services. The price does not include the data rate charges needed both to access the store, as well as download the purchased music.

I tested the service using one of the two multimedia phones available from Sprint, the Sanyo MM-9000. Upon entering the music application on the device, I was asked whether I wanted to go to the store or the player. As there was nothing on the phone, I headed for the store. The store was pretty much what one would expect, with sections dedicated to new releases, popular tracks and searching the collection. After picking a song, I was able to preview the track or purchase. As soon as I purchased the song, it began downloading. Fortunately, the download was pretty quick, because incoming phone calls were diverted to voice mail during the transfer.

One area of the store, however, that left me wanting was the search function. As someone not very skilled in the art of texting on a phone keypad, searching for an artist or song title became tedious. I would have liked to see a solution where music could be purchased from your PC, then sent to your handset, but this store is designed to sell only from Sprint’s devices.

The music files transferred to the device are in the proprietary KOZ format from Groove Mobile. This means that only supported handsets, currently limited to the two available from Sprint, can play these files. This format, however, does deliver good sounding music track in a very compact file. I was able to download six or seven full length songs without even coming close to filling the 16 megabyte Mini-SD memory card included with the phone.

Fortunately, the store supports a dual download model, one copy for the phone and another for your PC. So after returning to my desk, I logged on to the music store from my PC. Using my phone number and the password I had set up on the phone, I was able to access the songs I had purchased. Each of these were available a downloadable Windows Media Audio (WMA) file. When I tried to actually play one of the tracks, I was prompted to obtain a license for the song. After a few moments accessing the Internet, the file was available on my PC. I was also tried to transfer the music to another music player, as long as the device supports protected WMA files. While the Dell Axim with Media Player 10 played the track without problem, my iPod was unable to open the file.

For the impulse music buyer, the Sprint Music Store feeds the need of the “gotta have it now” crowd. Instant gratification comes at a premium, however, and the price will likely have many people looking for other options.

Sprint Music Store