Following a successful trial earlier this year with Chrysalis's Birmingham-based Heart FM, UBC is preparing to introduce the service on a permanent basis in conjunction with Virgin's phone division.
The four-week trial showed 100 Heart FM listeners downloaded an average of seven tracks a week at a cost of 煤1.25 each to their digital radio-enabled mobile phones.
When tuned into Heart, the screens of Virgin mobiles that offer DAB digital radio will list the name of the song currently playing, as well as the six played previously, and listeners will be able to download them instantly.
Once bought, the UBC service will send copies of the song to the customer's DAB device as well as their home computer.
Announcing the trial results in September, Simon Cole, UBC Media chief executive, predicted that while the trial demonstrated strong consumer interest, the purchase frequency would be lower.
Last Sunday's launch of Virgin Mobile's new Lobster 700TV handset, which contains an onboard DAB decoder using BT's Movio platform, allowed users to access 50 DAB digital radio stations, as well as BBC1, ITV1, C4 and E4.
UBC Media Group owns Classic Gold Digital and Oneword Radio as well as providing syndicated programme strands to commercial radio groups in exchange for airtime.
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