Nokia's 'free' music download service coming to Australia

Stuart Corner
Monday, 19 January 2009 07:51

Your IT - Home IT

Nokia is set to launch its 'Comes With Music' service - which bundles a cellphone with access to unlimited free music downloads for one year - in Australia and Singapore before the end of March.

The music tracks available are the same as those offered for sale through the Nokia Music Store (launched in Australia in April 2008).

Comes With Music was launched in the UK in September 2008 and Reuters reports that Tero Ojanpera, the head of entertainment and communities at Nokia, told the MidemNet annual digital music gathering in Cannes this week that the rollout would continue following a good experience in Britain.

"The next two countries which we are going to roll out in the next 10 weeks are going to be in Asia, in Australia and Singapore...We'll be launching there in the first quarter of 2009, in February and March...In 2009 we will also be looking at the United States and Latin America," he said.

Nokia Australia's corporate communications manager, Louise Ingram confirmed the plans. She told iTWire: "Yes, we will have CWM in Australia in Q1...We hope to announce that launch date and product range in the relatively near future."

In the UK the phone, the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic 'Comes With Music' edition, is available only through Carphone Warehouse and Mobiletoday.co.uk reported after launch that: "Nokia recorded 150,000 downloads in the UK in the first week Comes With Music went on sale, representing a tenth of the downloads enjoyed by iTunes. The level suggests a strong start for Nokia." It said that Nokia was backing the launch with "one of its biggest campaigns of the year," reportedly with a £10m advertising budget.

However, despite Ojanpera's claim about "a good experience" analysts are seeing a significant price cut by Carphone as a sign that the service is flagging.
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