Nokia will launch Australia’s first subscription music service today as it seeks to use its mobile industry clout to topple Apple’s iTunes off its perch.
But the venture could struggle to gain traction in a market dominated by the iPod, as songs bought from the store are incompatible with Apple’s ubiquitous music player.
The store, part of Nokia’s concerted diversification into online mobile services such as gaming, navigation and social networking, will sell downloads of individual tracks for $A1.70 ($NZ2) and albums from $A17.
And in an Australia-first offering, Nokia will allow customers to stream an unlimited number of full-length tracks directly from a player built into its music store website for a subscription fee of $A10 a month.
Songs can be downloaded directly from certain Nokia mobile phones or via the PC and synchronised to mobile devices. Nokia’s 5310, 5610, 5700, N78, N81, N82, N91, N95, N96 and N76 handsets are all compatible, and the phone giant said other mobile music devices should work provided they support Windows Media Player.
All 2.5 million songs will be locked down using Windows Media digital rights management (DRM), and must be synchronised with mobile devices using Windows Media Player 11. Users will only be able to load tracks on to five different devices.
The move to restrict the use and distribution of the songs using DRM locks is curious because record labels are already experimenting overseas with DRM-free MP3 files, which are widely supported and can be played on an unlimited number of devices.
The iPod does not support the Windows Media format, WMA.
Karen Farrugia, Nokia Australia’s music services manager, acknowledged that locking out iPod users would greatly limit the potential target market but said Nokia still aimed to topple iTunes.
“At this time we are launching Windows Media DRM-protected files and we will look in the future to introduce an MP3 service. . . we’re in discussions with labels to really work on that,” she said.
Nokia’s catalogue includes artists represented by the major labels Sony BMG, EMI and Universal, as well as a swathe of smaller labels including the Australian-based Hillsong, Modular and Shock Entertainment.
Farrugia said there would be a distinct focus on Australian artists, and Nokia has already lined up exclusive tracks from John Butler Trio and Pete Murray. Discussions were under way to bring the final major label, Warner Music, onboard.
Nokia would also offer “free tracks of the week” to push forward emerging artists, starting off with Stone Parade of Sydney’s Northern Beaches, which won last year’s Nokia Be Heard competition. This month the band also won the 2008 International Songwriting Competition, ahead of fellow Australian group Eskimo Joe.
The Australian unveiling of the Nokia Music Store follows the launch of the service in Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Singapore, Germany and Italy.
“Australia is one of the top 10 countries in the Nokia world,” company spokeswoman Louise Ingram said.
While most music stores based on Windows Media DRM have failed to gain traction - largely due to the dominance of the iPod and iTunes - Nokia has a better chance of success due to its position as leader of the mobile phone handset market.
Nokia shipped 146 million music-enabled devices in 2007, more than any other device maker.
The move comes at a time when digital music sales are booming but, much to the chagrin of record labels, not enough to make up for the decline in physical CD sales.
Earlier this month, Apple’s iTunes Store surpassed retail giant Wal-Mart to become the No 1 music retailer in the US.
Australians will be able to access the Nokia Music Store at music.nokia.com.au.
via http://www.stuff.co.nz/4490483a28.html
