Music subscription by handphone

In a bid to put an end to music piracy, the worlds biggest mobile phone maker, Nokia launched a new range of phones that shall offer consumers the chance to download and keep any song ever recorded for free.



This deal required consumers 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 record label onto either the handset or a computer.


The mobile is made by Nokia and partnered by music brands such as Universal Music, Sony BMG, EMI and Warner Music.


Users are able to download any song they want for the first 12 months, and keep all them for ever, vice-president of Nokia, Jo Harlow said.



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.



One person only can store the songs on one computer, and it is believed that most people will download songs via their home Internet connection.


Human beings can not be separated from music. Therefore, this deal attracted many consumers. Especially for those music-lovers, it'll be the perfect way to keep up on the latest releases.


Yet many will rightly be put off by the service's reliance on restrictive digital rights management encryption technology which prevents them making the most of downloaded content. That means you'll only be able to play the music from your registered nokia mobile or your registered windows pc, you can't transfer it to a MP3 player or burn it onto a CD.


Nokia believes it has potentially changed the future of music buying and consumption forever.


For years the music industry has been making great strides and taking extreme measures to prevent pirates from illegally copying and downloading music. Now, music industry executives are stating that websites and mobile service which offer listeners access to an unlimited number songs at no cost will begin to increase in number in the near future.


ISPs are starting to introduce more programs, which allow users unlimited music downloads. It is services such as these that the music industry feels will help to save it and stop some of the pirating.


The music industry is beginning to realize that they must adopt the "If you can’t beat them, join them" mentality when it comes to dealing with music pirates.



Reference Lists:

1. Busby, B 2009, "Comes With Music" via Nokia and Unlimited Music Downloads, viewed on 15 June 2009, http://www.180cds.com/
   
2. Khan, M, A 2008, Is Nokia monkeying with music's future?, viewed on 16 June 2009, http://www.mobilemarketer.com/
   
3. Sabbagh, D 2008, Nokia offers unlimited music for one-off fee, The Times http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,24440421-15306,00.html
   
4. Thaindian News, 2008, New Nokia phones to offer unlimited music for one-off fee of PS130, viewed on 16 June 2009, http://www.thaindian.com/


5. Image resource : http://image.google.com/