“Nokia is to stop offering free music downloads with its mobile phones in most markets, signalling the failure of a service that was once predicted to revolutionise the digital music market and challenge the dominance of Apple’s iTunes,” Andrew Ward reports for The FInancial Times.
“The service, which allowed subscribers to download unlimited amounts of music through certain Nokia phones, was hailed as a key part of the Finnish group’s internet service strategy when it was launched in 2008,” Ward reports. “Originally called Comes with Music, the service was aimed at challenging the pay-per-download model of iTunes and other digital music retailers by bundling a charge for unlimited downloads into the users’ mobile phone subscription.”
Ward reports, “The decision highlights the difficulties facing Nokia, the world’s biggest mobile phone maker, as it struggles to keep pace with the shift towards internet-enabled smartphones offering a range of multimedia services. Ovi Music Unlimited is part of a broader range of applications available through Nokia’s Ovi Store – designed to rival those offered by the Apple iPhone. Existing users in the 27 countries affected by the shutdown will be able to continue downloading unlimited music until their subscriptions run out.”
Full article here.
Electronista reports, “Six-month subscription plans will survive in Brazil, South Africa and Turkey, while year-long subscriptions will persist in China, India and Indonesia. The service was originally the brainchild of Universal Music Group, which saw it as a variant on its Total Music initiative at a time when it was convinced it could develop an alternative to iTunes [Store].”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: What we wrote, in part, regarding Nokia’s “Comes With Music” on December 05, 2007: “This idea sucks worse than Microsoft’s Windows UI department… We predict failure.”
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Dominick P.” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
More blood on Apple iTunes Store’s play button: Sky Songs is dead – December 08, 2010
More blood on Apple iTunes Store’s play button: SpiralFrog croaks – March 19, 2009
More blood on Apple iTunes Store’s play button: Total Music is dead – February 11, 2009
More blood on Apple iTunes Store’s play button: Ruckus is dead – February 08, 2009
More blood on Apple iTunes Store’s play button: Starz pulls plug on ‘Vongo’ – August 13, 2008
More blood on Apple iTunes Store’s play button: Yahoo! Music Store is dead – July 24, 2008
More blood on Apple iTunes Store’s play button: Yahoo shutters online music subscription service – February 04, 2008
More blood on Apple iTunes Store’s play button: Wal-Mart pulls plug on movie download store – December 27, 2007
More blood on Apple iTunes Store’s play button: Virgin Digital is dead – September 24, 2007
More blood on Apple iTunes Store’s play button: MTV’s Urge is dead – August 21, 2007
More blood on Apple iTunes Store’s play button: Google pulls plug on Google Video – August 13, 2007
More blood on Apple iTunes Store’s play button: Sony disconnects Connect – June 17, 2007
More blood on Apple iTunes Store’s play button: AOL Music Now folds – January 12, 2007
More blood on Apple iTunes Store’s play button: Virgin shutters U.S. music service – January 05, 2007
More blood on Apple iTunes Store’s play button: MSN Music stops selling music downloads – November 03, 2006
More blood on Apple iTunes Store’s play button: Japan’s Oricon bows out – November 01, 2006
More blood on Apple iTunes Store’s play button: Tower Records liquidated – October 09, 2006
More blood on Apple iTunes Music Store’s play button: MyCokeMusic is dead – June 20, 2006
Apple’s iTunes Music Store has blood on its play button: BuyMusic.com is dead – March 28, 2004
Naming your service after a porn soundtrack is never a good idea.
So where are all those braggarts talking smack about iTunes and Apple, and how the downfall has begun with the Nokia announcement? Helloooooo where are you?
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />
MDN’s related articles list is an impressive collection of Epic Fail.
Not to be confused with Microsoft’s “Comes With Trojans” backdoor exploit…
(also reminds me of the time I asked about a car
“Hyundai?”
“No, Kia…”)
> signalling the failure of a service that was once predicted to revolutionise the digital music market and challenge the dominance of Apple’s iTunes
What moron predicted that?
I didn’t realize that service was still around.
They sent say it would last forever. It was a et it while you can subscription when the phone first came out.
Wow, really very nice and good features you share here. I read your entire post really very good info on Nokia Comes with Music. Actually i was searching Online Shopping portal for mobiles in India and i found your post & its really great info.
Okay, so Nokia gave something a shot, and it didn’t work as planned. Is it possible to appreciate innovation, even if it fails? No one is a bigger Apple fan than Yours Truly, but I appreciate that other companies are trying their own things and not just allowing iTunes to determine their own successes or failures.
Competition, contrary to popular belief in our quickly-becoming fascist oligarchy, is not a bad thing.
BLOODBATH IN AISLE 11 !
For one thing it had the worst name ever. Every time I heard they say COMES WITH MUSIC I wanted to killmyself.