Nokia announced their Comes With Music program last month, a media download offering with backing from Sony BMG, Warner Music Group, EMI, and Universal Music Group.
The system, along with the Nokia Music Store, has about 5 million tracks currently available and Nokia has announced the Music PC client for easy downloads. You can drag CDs into the application for immediate ripping. Comes With Music streamlines that process by offering unlimited over-the-air downloads your first year of phone ownership – provided you own a CWM handset – and the music remains in your possession after your contract is up. The contract lasts from 12 to 18 months and you enable the service by entering a code that will come with your new phone.
Comes With Music is a bold move for a company traditionally stuck in the low- to mid-range feature phone market. The previous XpressMusic phones were Nokia’s first “media phones” aimed at folks who specifically wanted to listen to music on their phones. Traditionally, Nokia’s lines tend to skew to developing markets with their candy bar and slider phones and the high end with their Symbian S60 phones.
Nokia’s music strategy based on the “give them a little taste and then they’ll pay for it” idea offered by sites like MySpace and imeem where the music is ostensibly free but you are encouraged to pay down the line. As Erick pointed out, this is almost a radio model – companies pay 9 cents per streamed track and hope that their good will is paid back through sales. Sadly, the risk is carried by Nokia if you give up on their music store once the contract is up. However, planting that seed (“Nokia=music downloads”) is an important first step. Nokia needs CWM to compete in media – a realm they’ve never quite entered in all their years. New services like Ovi are covering the web services space – a good move – but music and video are not Nokia’s strong suit although their phones are powerful – and compelling – enough to warrant a second look.
What’s interesting here is the bundle Nokia 5800+Comes with Music. I’m a bit disappointed you haven’t given the specs about this neat device that looks like a great answer to the iPhone threat.
If you don’t read french, that’s not a problem, because there are tons of pictures on this great blog: http://www.giiks.com/3033-le-nokia-5800-xpressmusic-au-bout-des-doigts/
Again, for me, it’s the combo 5800+Comes with Music that is exciting, not only the iTunes-like library on the mobile. But perhaps, it’s not to be written on TC, which is an obvious anti-Nokia blog.
I attended churchill club event last night that hosted the CEO of Nokia. He seemed to play “Openness” as a big part in Nokia going forward. But it sounded Nokia would rather wait and see where the market heads rather than create new ideas / products in the market.
bold move by nokia. I don’t think they can compete with apple’s itunes, iPod, and iPhone though.
http://gatesandjobs.blogspot.com/
I agree, Tony. “iTunes” and “iPod” have almost become as generic as Kleenex or Xerox. But somebody has to try to take them down. I like this model and I wish them luck — but I have a contract and can’t buy the 5800 for a while. :-(
I imagine none of these devices are coming to Verizon so it’s irrelevant for me, but I do like the sound of this model and hope they manage to steal a larger portion of the U.S. market when it hits.
no balls no babies. good luck to nokia
Nokia again. Trying to fight to its competitors. Good luck
Nokia isn’t “stuck in the low-mid market”. It might be in the US, but you’re talking about a massive global brand here – the N95 smartphone has done more to change perceptions about the mobile internet for the mass market than the iPhone (remember that the ‘regular’ internet has been established on mobiles in Europe and elsewhere for several years, whereas this was apparently ‘new news’ in the US). Also note that the N95 and G1 will run on high speed *nationwide* HSPA 3G networks in the UK from the start. As for music, Nokia are unlikely to succeed as there is little history of mass-market success with renting models – especially combined with tethering to one handset brand for future upgrades.
good luck to nokia
Thaanks