Sony Signs With Nokia
Sony BMG has formally signed up to Nokia’s ambitious Comes With Music concept.
It’s a major coup for Nokia, which already has Universal on board. Speculation suggests EMI is privately positive about the service too.
Nokia Comes With Music is expected to launch in the second half of 2008 on a range of Nokia devices in selected markets. The concept bundles ‘free’ music into the price of the hardware, so that buyers of selected Nokia devices can download tracks to mobile or PC via Nokia Music Store for 12 months. At the end of the one year period, they can keep their downloaded tracks for good.
Thereafter, they can purchase additional tracks from the Nokia Music Store, or move on to a Nokia “unlimited access” subscription service.
Thomas Hesse, president of global digital business at Sony BMG, said: “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.”