Nokia Music

Nokia finds Orange UK receptive to Comes With Music

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 13 May 2009 12:58:22 -0400

Nokia has at last found a major UK operator to take its Comes With Music (CWM) service following the decision by Orange UK to sign an exclusive contract with the handset manufacturer. Orange said it would use the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic handset to offer a 2-year (as opposed to Nokia's usual 1-year offering) contract for subscribers wanting access to CWM.

This move by Orange--having previously resisted marketing services from Nokia--might kick-start the CWM service which is thought to have attracted around 20,000 UK users since it was launched by Nokia last autumn with Carphone Warehouse. The lack of uptake was blamed on the difficulties consumers experienced understanding the DRM restrictions and what ownership they had to the music tracks.

Having initially used heavyweight advertising to promote CWM, rival operators will watch closely to understand if the popularity of the Nokia service can be boosted by the support of a major operator using the 5800 XpressMusic handset. Last month, Nokia's CEO, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, claimed the 5800 Xpress Music combined with CWM had been a "big success story" for the handset maker in the countriesin which the device has been launched, helping it ship 2.6 million units in Q1.

For more on this story:
Mobile Entertainment and Engadget

Cracked: Nokia's Comes with Music DRM

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 12:37:58 -0500

Having struggled to make an impact on the mobile music landscape, Nokia has suffered a fresh blow following the revelation that its Comes with Music (CWM) DRM can be overcome using a €20 software application.

More frustrating is that the software, labelled Tunebite, has taken an innovative approach to removing the DRM from the CWM tracks which would appear to be hard for Nokia to combat. The Tunebite approach is to play CWM tracks at speed and redub them into a non-encrypted file--claiming to convert a track within a few seconds. It would seem unlikely that Nokia can revise its DRM service at this stage and the company may have to hope that few CWM subscribers become aware of the Tunebite application.

In an effort to boost sales of the CWM service, cell phone retailers are already offering deep discounts on the 5310 XpressMusic handset, although industry watchers believe this may be in anticipation of the launch of the new Nokia 5800 XpressMusic touch-screen device that is scheduled for Q1 next year.

For more:
- go to Trusted Reviews

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Rumour mill: Orange/Nokia in talks over Comes with Music

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 14:04:13 -0400

Having been a fierce opponent in the past to Nokia's efforts to break into the mobile music arena, Orange has now admitted to ongoing negotiations with Nokia regarding the Comes with Music (CWM) service.

While no agreement is in place today, Orange admitted it was aware that Carphone Warehouse was currently selling CWM prepay and pay-monthly handsets with Orange Sims in their stores. A quick decision is expected given that Nokia used this weekend to launch a multi-million Euro pre-Christmas campaign to promote CWM using major TV channels and print media.

3UK already sells CWM on the Nokia N95 8GB with 300 minutes and texts for €45 per month, and would be the only operator to benefit from Nokia's marketing campaign--something that Nokia would want to avoid and Orange would wish to gain from.

But Nokia's chance of gaining Orange as a reseller of its music service looks likely to be disrupted following the agreement by EMI, Warner Music and indie label Beggars Group to launch their own service offering unlimited music downloads for €130. The new service, Datz Music Lounge, can be played on any mobile phone or portable music player. Like Nokia's offering, subscribers will be given access to it for a year and keep all the music they download.

For more on this story go to:
Brand Republic and Mobile Today

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Nokia's Comes with Music--an operator turnoff

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:19:48 -0400

Nokia's glitzy launch in London of its Comes with Music service will have pleased music lovers and the gadget press alike, but UK mobile operators have expressed their displeasure by vowing not to sell the service over their networks.

While these operators will closely monitor this free music download service, their refusal to cooperate with Nokia stems from two, significant issues. Firstly, Nokia is insisting upon a profit-sharing deal albeit that operators can see little margin in selling the handset. Secondly, the operators will be saddled with much increased network traffic caused by the unlimited downloads associated with the service. The fear is that this could run into several Gigabytes per month per handset, which could cripple operators' existing data networks.

Insisting that the situation was not all gloom, Nokia claims to be negotiating with several operators in the hope it can sign several deals in time for Christmas. However, given the majority of the larger European operators already have, or are planning, a music download service, Nokia's Comes with Music can only be seen as a threat. The market research firm CCS Insight said it expected some operators to participate in the new service, but only if it proves popular and draws in new subscribers.

This resistance by UK operators could well be echoed by their counterparts in Europe and the US. Nokia's Ovi service, an umbrella concept for mobile Internet, has also experienced pushback from the operator community not wanting the handset giant to cream off revenues they strongly maintain belong to them.

However, a recent study by market researcher TNS Technology revealed that people aged 16 to 64 wanted to download 64 music tracks a month--which, on a yearly basis, equates to over £600, making the Comes with Music service at £130 look more of an attractive proposition.

For more on this story:
- go to IT Proportal

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