Nokia has announced an agreement with Warner Music Group to carry music from Warner artists on its forthcoming Comes With Music service. The idea behind Comes With Music is that when customers buy selected Nokia handsets, they also get a year’s worth of access to a large library of downloadable music—and they can keep that music in their permanent libraries even after the year is up. Licensing and payment for the music users keep is built into the price of the phone, and Nokia believes users will be encouraged to explore new music if they don’t have to deal with track-by-track accounting and payments.
"Nokia’s Comes With Music service will be a significant step forward in the evolution of digital music. It’s the first global initiative to fundamentally align the interests of music companies with telecommunications companies," said Warner Music CEO Edgar Bronfman, in a statement. "Through this innovative service and business model, all parties are equally driven to create the best and most comprehensive music offering designed to meet the ever-expanding consumer appetite for music and music-enabled devices."
Nokia expects to launch Comes With Music on selected handsets in the second half of 2008 in "selected territories," although Nokia has not yet detailed where it plans to premier the service. Warner Music Group tracks will also be available through the Nokia Music Store, which offers both PC downloads and purchases from mobile devices, along with easy synchronization between the two. Currently, the Nokia Music Store is available in Australia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Singapore, Sweden, and the UK.
