Nokia ‘Comes With Music’ To Offer ‘Free’ Music to Cellphone Subscribers

Cellphone manufacturer Nokia’s audacious plan to enter the music business by selling phones that come with music subscriptions will soon offer British consumers the chance to download music that feels free directly to their handsets. Even after the subscription runs out (in one year), subscribers will be able to keep the music they have downloaded, unlike similar offerings from Rhapsody and Napster.

Carphone Warehouse will start selling the first Comes With Music phone, the Nokia 5130 XPressMusic, next month in the UK, according to Reuters. So far, the three largest record labels in the world (Sony, Warner and Universal) have signed on to the service in the hopes that by tying an unlimited music to a device, they can survive consumers’ collective move away from piecemeal media ownership. Some percentage of what consumers pay for the phones will go to the labels — possibly around $20 per phone, according to a Reuters estimate.

Full article: wired.com