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Nokia to offer more free music from Sony BMG artists

by on23 April 2008

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Free access for 12 months

Nokia announced today that Sony BMG Music Entertainment has officially joined Nokia’s “Comes With Music” program, for purchasers of its Nokia Comes With Music devices.  The initial Comes With Music program was unveiled last December when Nokia entered into a partnership with recording label, Universal.

"As one of the leading major music companies in the world, our collaboration with SONY BMG means we can offer a huge range of fantastic music from both international and local artists via Comes With Music," said Tero Ojanperä, Executive Vice President and head of the Nokia Entertainment and Communities business.

"It's great to have them on board as we move forward with bringing our unlimited music bundle to the market. Nokia Comes With Music is an innovation that not only helps people discover and enjoy music, but also expand the overall business and revenue for the benefit of artists, labels and other rights holders."

Thomas Hesse, President, Global Digital Business & U.S. Sales, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, concurred. "This initiative represents a critical new way of gaining access to music, through which fans will be able to explore SONY BMG's vast catalog of recordings for an entire year," said Mr. Hesse,.

"We think this business model will encourage users to sample a wide range of material, expand their musical tastes, and listen to more music than ever before. In the process, we think it will provide new opportunities to artists from every genre of music, and increase demand for music overall."

Consumers who purchase a Nokia Comes With Music device will have 12 months of free access to the SONY BMG catalog of music. Consumers will be able to download tracks to both their mobile device and computer through Nokia’s online Music Store during the initial twelve months. 

After the 12-month period expires, consumers can continue to make purchases through the Sony online Music Store and, most importantly, can opt to keep their downloaded music tracks by subscribing to a Nokia “unlimited access” subscription service for new releases and catalog tracks they haven’t already downloaded.

Further, if they upgrade to a new device that is compatible they can transfer the already downloaded music to their new device.  Nokia says that in theory customers will thus be able to retain their downloads on their computer and/or devices for the rest of their lives. 

This is in sharp contrast to Apple’s iTunes, which only allow downloads to one device and the downloads are not transferable if the device is upgraded or replaced.

Comes With Music is expected to launch in the second half of 2008 in selected markets.  Financial details of the deal were not released by Nokia or Sony.

Read more here.

Last modified on 23 April 2008
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