Warner hops aboard Nokia Music Store boat
By Erna Mahyuni
Warner Music’s agreed to partner with Nokia for the latter’s “Comes with Music” programme.
It seems the online music front has been busy lately, what with Rhapsody’s no-DRM announcement. Besides the “Comes with Music” project, Warner Music will also have its catalogue available in Nokia Music Stores, according to an official press release.
What does Comes with Music entail? It involves selling Nokia devices that come with a year of access to music. Once the year is up, customers can still hold on to their music. Universal Music Group International and SONY BMG are also in on the deal, which is a fairly interesting package. Buy phone, get a year’s worth of music? Nifty way to sell music phones, Nokia. While not every one has an iPod, few people are without mobile phones nowadays. Nokia’s new endeavor is probably to geared to make most of those phones theirs.
“Warner Music Group has been a pioneer in developing new digital music business models and we are very pleased to have them supporting both the Nokia Music Store and Comes With Music,” said Tero Ojanperä, executive vice president and head of the Nokia Entertainment and Communities business.
“Nokia’s Comes With Music service will be a significant step forward in the evolution of digital music. It’s the first global initiative to fundamentally align the interests of music companies with telecommunications companies,” said Edgar Bronfman, Jr., Warner Music Group’s Chairman and CEO.
Launch date is targeted around the second half of 2008, in selected territories. Besides Nokia devices, consumers can also listen to music on their PCs. What’s unique here is the music is transferable to any compatible Nokia device, regardless of which device was used originally to make the purchase.
Currently the Nokia Music Store is available in the following countries: Australia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Singapore, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Further expansion is expected, though announcements have yet to be made.
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