Nokia signs Sony BMG Music

Nokia made its second signing for its Comes With Music Service - Sony BMG.

Sony, one of the four big music labels, will join Universal Music in providing content to Nokia's bundled music service.

Comes With Music will provide a year's free music downloads to customers who buy one of Nokia's music phones. It will launch in the second half of 2008.

Nokia has not disclosed how much it is paying Universal and Sony, but it denied recent reports it would pay €22.29 (US$35) for each phone sold.

'We think this business model will encourage users to sample a wide range of material, expand their musical tastes, and listen to more music than ever before,' said Thomas Hesse, president of Sony BMG's global digital business and US sales.

Consumers will be able to download tracks to their phone or and computer through the Nokia Music Store for the first 12 months after buying a Nokia music phone. At the end of the period, they will be given the option of buying tracks from the Nokia Music Store or moving to an unlimited subscription model.