December 10, 2007

Music On Your Mobile

Universal Music group entered into an agreement with Nokia Corp., the worlds largest mobile-phone maker by sales, to offer UNLIMITED music downloads for a year on phones carrying the "Ovi" platform, which allows users to buy music. (The core of the service is based on Nokia's prior acquisition of Loudeye for $60 mil.) Dubbed "Comes With Music", users -- who will get a 1 year free subscription and access to Universal's repertoire of artists -- can also transfer music to their computers, though making multiple copies in violation of Copyright protections is limited (DRM).

The service is sure to compete with Apple iTunes/iPhone, and is part of Nokia's continuing expansion into providing on-line services over its telephones.

The real question is whether mobile is truly the direction music is heading? Yes, the iPhone is cool - having your music and phone handy for on-the-go people is a seeming "must". But is it THE ANSWER? Or, just one path of many?

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