Nokia to end free music downloads in 27 Countries
World’s top Cellphone maker, Nokia, is ending its bundling of free music downloads with cell phones in 27 countries, where it has gained little traction since its 2008 launch.
Nokia will continue to sell phones with 12-month subscription to free music downloads in China, India and Indonesia and with 6-month subscriptions in Brazil, Turkey and South Africa.
All four major labels – Vivendi’s Universal Music, EMI, Warner Music Group and the music arm of Sony, signed up for the service, which was seen at start as a major challenger for Apple’s iTunes.
Reasons behind the lackluster performance include use of older supporting handsets for the product at its launch and the use of DRM software that tied downloaded music to the device. The service was also said to be difficult to explain to customers in a simple marketing campaign.
According to Nokia’s spokesperson, the markets clearly want a DRM-free music service, the firm continues to offer DRM-free tracks through its music store in 38 countries.
The service will be closed down in a total of 27 countries, although it will continue until the current subscriptions expire.
Vodafone’s DRM-free music service a hit
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: After attracting almost half-a-million paying subscribers to its DRM-free services since March 2009, Vodafone has claimed to rule Europe’s mobile music market. The clear pricing policy of the carrier has been credited behind the subscription of 450,000 users for its music services.
A monthly bundle allowing the users to download 10 tracks, or a variety of all-you-can-eat packages has been provided to the subscribers. Some 100,000 subscribers have signed up in December alone in Vodafone’s eight key European markets Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the UK.
The company has signed deals with Sony Music Entertainment, EMI Music, and Universal Music, to provide DRM-free MP3 content.
