Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Thursday, 17 April 2008 17:42
Opinion and Analysis
Page 2 of 3
Back to the subscription music for PCs: this means Nokia’s subscription service is different to that offered by US companies which let you download from a choice of millions of songs to any compatible device, with the tracks only disappearing after a month, if the monthly subscription fee is no longer paid.
As it costs $10 per month, it will compete with a range of existing radio stations which clearly won’t play only what you want to hear, when you want to hear it, but at least won’t cost anything to access, other than bandwidth costs – something that Nokia subscription users will also have to pay, and consider, as either will use up some of your monthly broadband download limit.
Nokia will offer a specific Music PC Client software which will help users to download and buy tracks, activate subscription, rip CDs to Nokia phones and your PC, organise playlists and album art, and more – but it won’t come until “later this year”.
For now, music has to be purchased and downloaded through Nokia’s Music Store website, with the music then transferred to a range of Nokia phones using Windows Media Player 11.
Owners of the Nokia N95 8GB, N81 8GB and the N82 can access the music store direct from their phones.
Although no mention of the original N95 is made in Nokia’s press release, a quick visit to Nokia UK’s music store FAQ and
supported devices list (only viewable in Internet Explorer) shows that the original N95 can be firmware updated to support the new music store.
The N-Series phones listed above have a more advanced music player than non N-Series models, which will let “you can create playlists and manage your music collection, including editing song and artist information, as well as adding your own choice of album artwork, all while on the move.”
In addition, the ability to sync from a PC is available on a wider range of Nokia models including the latest Xpress Music handets, Nokia 5610 and Nokia 5310. These phones cannot access the music store directly – see the link above for more information, which one would expect would also apply in Australia.
So, which music labels have signed up, and what else does Nokia say about the music store development for Australians? And should Apple be worried? Please read onto page 3.
