Verizon recently added a host of independent music labels to its catalog of music available on its V Cast service. V Cast allows you to stream and download music and video clips to your cell phone. Verizon has partnered with the Digital Rights Agency, CD Baby, and the Independent Online Distribution Alliance (IODA) to offer music from over 2,200 national and international record labels. IODA, for example, contains labels who represent such diverse artists as Bebel Gilberto, Talvin Singh, the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Clint Black, and Fela Kuti.

I'm interested in anything that gets music onto cell phones. Real Player on the Treo, the ROKR, MP3-based ringtones... It's obvious that devices will continue to converge. Oh, sure, there will always be diversity - some people really just want a phone to be a phone - but I want to carry one device, and I want it to get satellite radio, music from other sources, video, and phone calls. I want it to have my addressbook, a camera, and quick access to obscure song lyrics. This move by Verizon only helps the space, and giving indie bands another distribution channel can only be good. Of course, I have to admit that hearing people use their cell phones as a boombox on the subway is lame. If someone figures out a way to squeeze a subwoofer into a cell phone, I'm all ears.

[via FMQB]