Higher-end Nokia phones will come with a built-in music service offering unlimited downloads of songs for a year, beginning in mid-2008. Nokia has signed up Universal Music to provide its
catalog--including top contemporary musicians such as Amy Winehouse and Kanye West--and the handset giant is negotiating with other companies. It is calling the service "Comes With Music."
Nokia managers would never admit to being influenced by the Apple iPhone--which mobile-phone industry insiders regard as clever but technologically unimpressive. The new initiative seems aimed at
preventing Apple from dominating mobile music the way its iTunes service has dominated digital music on PCs and MP3 players.
The unlimited downloads deal is good only for a year, but
Nokia is betting that by then customers will be so hooked on the service they will be willing to pay more. The fee after a year hasn't been determined. The new service is a part of Nokia's stepped-up
effort to transfer its domination of the handset business to the Internet.
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