Ten years after internet piracy began to destroy the music business, the world’s major record companies will this month offer consumers the chance to download and keep any song ever recorded.
The catch is that people will have to buy a £129.99 pay-as-you-go mobile phone, which will give the owner the right to download any song released by virtually every important record label onto either the handset or a computer.
The mobile is made by Nokia, under its Comes With Music brand, and it is partnered by Universal Music, Sony BMG, EMI and Warner Music — the record companies who once tried to sue people who pirated song after song from the internet.
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“You’ll be able to download any song you want onto the handset or one personal computer for the first 12 months, and keep all them for ever,” said Jo Harlow, a vice-president with Nokia, the world’s biggest mobile phone maker.
Now, music industry executives believe that they can make more money from allowing people to download as many songs as they want — because Nokia will make a one-off cash payment to the record giants for every phone it sells.
The exact bounty, although secret, is reckoned to be greater than the amount of money that the average music buyer pays for in a year. A typical music buyer might spend £40 a year on CDs and downloads, although a hardcore fan can easily spend much more than that.
Stephen Bryan, the senior vice-president responsible for digital strategy at Warner Music, the record company behind Madonna and REM, said: “This is a model where people move towards paying a subscription for all the music they want. We think it will help attract people away from illegal music and address their music interests in a compelling, legitimate service.”
Record companies believe that very few people will try to take advantage of the service by downloading every song they possibly can. When a similar all-you-can-download subscription service was launched in Denmark recently, the average customer chose to take 25 songs.
“There will be monitoring to see if people abuse the service,” said Graeme Ferguson, from Sony BMG, home to Oasis and Dido. “We hope this will help add to the market, because people will still want to buy CDs as a gift or for their collection.”
The service is one of several subscription music services that are expected to be unveiled over the coming months, through agreements with other mobile phone makers and internet service providers. Ministers, too, have been taking an interest as they hope the vast jukeboxes will will curtail piracy.
Nokia’s Comes With Music, available from October 16 in the UK, allows unlimited acess to songs for a one-year period, but after that time a customer has to buy a new phone. Any songs downloaded are tied to the particular handset — the first Comes With Music model, the 5310, has 8GB of memory and can store 6,000 songs.
Songs can also be stored on one computer, and the expectation is that most people will download songs via their home internet connection, because the cost of downloading a song wirelessly is considerable. But to maintain access to the service after the first year, it will be neccesary to buy a new phone.
By then Nokia, the world’s biggest mobile phone maker, hopes to have other handsets available, including a touchscreen device that is intended to rival Apple’s popular iPhone. The service is launching in the UK first, but is expected to spread around the world in the coming months.
The catch is that people will have to buy a £129.99 pay-as-you-go mobile phone, which will give the owner the right to download any song released by virtually every important record label onto either the handset or a computer.
The mobile is made by Nokia, under its Comes With Music brand, and it is partnered by Universal Music, Sony BMG, EMI and Warner Music — the record companies who once tried to sue people who pirated song after song from the internet.
Video review: Nokia 5800 XpressMusic
Nokia has added to a lengthening list of iPhone rivals with an accomplished touchscreen phone called the Tube
Nokia offers unlimited music for one-off fee of £130
Attack of the androids: Google's new phone
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Video review: Nokia 5800 XpressMusic
Attack of the androids: Google's new phone
First review: BlackBerry Bold challenges iPhone
“You’ll be able to download any song you want onto the handset or one personal computer for the first 12 months, and keep all them for ever,” said Jo Harlow, a vice-president with Nokia, the world’s biggest mobile phone maker.
Now, music industry executives believe that they can make more money from allowing people to download as many songs as they want — because Nokia will make a one-off cash payment to the record giants for every phone it sells.
The exact bounty, although secret, is reckoned to be greater than the amount of money that the average music buyer pays for in a year. A typical music buyer might spend £40 a year on CDs and downloads, although a hardcore fan can easily spend much more than that.
Stephen Bryan, the senior vice-president responsible for digital strategy at Warner Music, the record company behind Madonna and REM, said: “This is a model where people move towards paying a subscription for all the music they want. We think it will help attract people away from illegal music and address their music interests in a compelling, legitimate service.”
Record companies believe that very few people will try to take advantage of the service by downloading every song they possibly can. When a similar all-you-can-download subscription service was launched in Denmark recently, the average customer chose to take 25 songs.
“There will be monitoring to see if people abuse the service,” said Graeme Ferguson, from Sony BMG, home to Oasis and Dido. “We hope this will help add to the market, because people will still want to buy CDs as a gift or for their collection.”
The service is one of several subscription music services that are expected to be unveiled over the coming months, through agreements with other mobile phone makers and internet service providers. Ministers, too, have been taking an interest as they hope the vast jukeboxes will will curtail piracy.
Nokia’s Comes With Music, available from October 16 in the UK, allows unlimited acess to songs for a one-year period, but after that time a customer has to buy a new phone. Any songs downloaded are tied to the particular handset — the first Comes With Music model, the 5310, has 8GB of memory and can store 6,000 songs.
Songs can also be stored on one computer, and the expectation is that most people will download songs via their home internet connection, because the cost of downloading a song wirelessly is considerable. But to maintain access to the service after the first year, it will be neccesary to buy a new phone.
By then Nokia, the world’s biggest mobile phone maker, hopes to have other handsets available, including a touchscreen device that is intended to rival Apple’s popular iPhone. The service is launching in the UK first, but is expected to spread around the world in the coming months.
