RSS Feeds
Entertainment
Nokia to Offer Unlimited Free Music with Universal
Posted by Jesus Diaz at 7:49 PM on December 4, 2007
Nokia Comes With Music is a new program that will get you a year of free "unlimited access to millions of tracks from a range of great artists - past, present and future" when you buy a new Nokia device. Yes. Free. Gratis. Apparently the stuff-your-ears-until-you-explode service is subscription-based and the first year is free with the phone but, unlike other similar offers, you keep the music after the subscription is over. Could this really be free beer?
There are no details about the program yet. Anssi Vanjoki, Executive VP, General Manager of Multimedia for the company and the man who once said he wanted Nokia to take over the world, said that this program "fulfils our dream to give consumers all the music they want, wherever they want it, while rewarding the artists who create it". In addition to this, the CEO of Universal Music Group dropped your usual marketdronespeak quote: "Comes With Music allows our artists to reach new audiences in a very easy and affordable way."
So here are a few possibilities here: a) Nokia and UMG are footing the bill to lure people into the service, hoping they will remain subscribed after a year, b) Nokia is footing the bill and taking a loss to try to grab marketshare from i-You-Know-Who, c) maybe there's something hidden, like advertising or d) Don't Know/Won't Answer.
From here it all looks great for the consumer, but we would have to wait for details to know for sure. [Nokia]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
Nilkimas
Posted 5:47 AM 4/12/07
@kim98 "unlike other similar offers, you keep the music after the subscription is over."
Well the story thinks otherwise. But since I am in Europe this might be the first subscription based service available, well once they worked everything out in each individual country that is.
Nilkimas
Kim98
Posted 5:38 AM 4/12/07
Just to clarify since maybe it wasn't so obvious. The DRM will work just like in Rhapsody, Urge, Zune or any other subscription based music service. You can download and play as much as you want but songs only work if you have a valid subscription. The moment you stop the subscription the songs stop working.
Kim98
Kim98
Posted 5:36 AM 4/12/07
@Nilkimas:
The catch, obviously, is DRM.
Kim98
Nilkimas
Posted 4:35 AM 4/12/07
Ooh, so just have a Nokia phone for a year, download every single song they have, transfer it to my iPod and I am sorted.
Every song they don't have I'll still get of iTunes anyway. But I am sure there is a catch somewhere. Probably only a limited amount of songs that you can download during a given time or only playable on the phone.
Ooh well we will have to wait and see I guess. At least it is a step in the right direction, but after reading the interview with the CEO of Universal Music I doubt it will be as good as it seems.
Nilkimas
jesusdiaz
Posted 6:32 AM 4/12/07
@Kim98: Read the story. It doesn't stop working.
jesusdiaz
Penchum
Posted 8:01 AM 4/12/07
It's not for my iPud? Waaaaaaa
Penchum
Kim98
Posted 7:13 AM 4/12/07
I stand corrected, and puzzled. :)
Kim98
karstetter
Posted 8:10 AM 4/12/07
Even if it still works after a year, it may be DRM protected to work only on the Nokia device.
karstetter
nachobel
Posted 9:25 AM 4/12/07
@karstetter: Good thing you can record line-in, IMO!
^O^
nachobel
Xenocide
Posted 12:06 PM 4/12/07
@karstetter: Agree
Xenocide
Sqube
Posted 1:45 PM 4/12/07
This is bullshit. The article itself says that there are no details. Between pie-in-the-sky PR fluffery and when the program is actually implemented, they will find a way to limit the music.
Maybe a limit on the number of songs you can download a day, or an attempt to make it extremely difficult to get it off the phone, or maybe they'll just decide to make it so the music is deleted once your subscription ends.
I refuse to believe that there are any companies smart enough to realize that the music can be a means to an end, instead of just an end.
Sqube