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 "fulfills 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."

From here it all looks great for the consumer, but we would have to wait for details to know for sure. [Nokia]

3:49 AM on Tue Dec 4 2007
By Jesus Diaz
4,191 views
12 comments

Comments

Nilkimas at 04:35 AM on 12/04/07
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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.
Kim98 at 05:36 AM on 12/04/07
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@Nilkimas:
The catch, obviously, is DRM.
Kim98 at 05:38 AM on 12/04/07
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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.
Nilkimas at 05:47 AM on 12/04/07
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@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.
Jesus Diaz at 06:32 AM on 12/04/07
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Connectedness Index: 265
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@Kim98: Read the story. It doesn't stop working.
Kim98 at 07:13 AM on 12/04/07
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I stand corrected, and puzzled. :)
Penchum at 08:01 AM on 12/04/07
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It's not for my iPud? Waaaaaaa
scokar at 08:10 AM on 12/04/07
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Even if it still works after a year, it may be DRM protected to work only on the Nokia device.
nachobel at 09:25 AM on 12/04/07
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@karstetter: Good thing you can record line-in, IMO!

^O^
Xenocide at 12:06 PM on 12/04/07
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@karstetter: Agree
Bluetiger at 12:47 PM on 12/04/07
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@karstetter: the press info says PC and phone... 5 devices, including your PC and 3 other phones than your subscribed one.

I'm wondering if they will enable other devices than Nokia phones in the extra 3. Originally it seemed that Nokia picked the MS DRM solution so that many devices can exchange the files (except my iPod :-(. I'll need a Zune shuffle :-)
Sqube at 01:45 PM on 12/04/07
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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.