TrackID worked via the Sony-owned Gracenote identification system. Where available, you could have also purchased the identified track direct from PlayNow. Using this system, you could have recorded several seconds of music on your phone to find out the artist and track. Part of the PlayNow service was the TrackID mobile music recognition service. It also supports various thirdparty Windows Media DRM-enabled devices. PlayNow arena is organised on a per country basis, and is compatible with a wide range of Sony Ericsson phones. It also enabled the dual download of MP3 music tracks, with one higher quality MP3 track downloaded direct to PC, and one lower quality track to the phone. This first went live in the Nordic countries in August 2008 and offered additional types of free and premium content, including 1 million DRM-free tracks from record companies such as Sony Music, Warner Music, and EMI. PlayNow was expanded in mid-2008 into the browser-based portal, PlayNow arena. The Sony Ericsson S700 was the first Sony Ericsson phone to come pre-loaded with PlayNow. It was introduced in February 2004 as a way for owners of SE phones to listen to and directly purchase ringtones. PlayNow was Sony Ericsson's download service for media that included music, games, ringtones, wallpapers and themes.

Playnow