A standalone music download service which
Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo hinted at in June is looking to be making its way out into the world sometime this August, according to a recent Fortune article. The mobile phone kingpin appears to be positioning itself as a direct competitor for Apple and iTunes before the
iPhone makes its way into European markets
sometime later this year. Sources rumor that the "worldwide" service will allow users to download and transfer songs to non-Nokia hardware, but will employ some form of DRM, and Nokia will be offering over a million songs at the outset -- a pittance when compared to Apple's five million and counting. Supposedly, news of the launch will be delivered on August 29th in London during a live music event at the Ministry of Sound. The company has sent out invitations to a mysterious "Go Play" event, which asks invitees to "Come and witness the next stage of the evolution of the internet and mobility," which we're pretty sure is code for "the president is announcing the biggest uphill battle ever."
Read -- Can Nokia beat iPhone at its own tunes?
Read -- Nokia "Go Play" invite hints heavily towards music download service
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Bladefree21 @ Jul 31st 2007 5:38PM
iTunes is not the only music download service.
Silver @ Jul 31st 2007 5:45PM
Hooray, just what the world needs, **another** music download service!!! Because all the others have done so well...
I expect Nokia will use craptastic WMA, just like all the other lame iTunes competitors out there (except for eMusic, bless them).
Hurry up Apple and launch the iPhone iTunes music store!
michael @ Jul 31st 2007 9:13PM
Well considering that most other stores have released higher bitrates before iTunes Pro, and they offer subscription services, and other things, I think you're wrong.
Sorry.
Waitupasec @ Jul 31st 2007 6:03PM
haha
Bruno @ Jul 31st 2007 6:07PM
Nokia faces an uphill battle to stay at the top of the mobile handset game, let alone starting up a music store.
In the online music store business they face a Houdini-like feat of escaping from a sealed iron box encased in 100-foot thick concrete walls and dumped into the deepest trench in the ocean. During an ice age.
Forget about it.
nikster @ Aug 1st 2007 7:14AM
Agreed.
It worries me Nokia is trying to beat iPod/iTunes/iPhone, they keep too much of an eye on Apple. Nokia should be doing their own thing, and, most importantly, realize just how much they suck at software.
It's a bit like coming out with DR-DOS and trying to compete with OS X. They have let Symbian stagnate to the point of near death, and seemingly have nothing else lined up either. Nokia PC Suite is a complete waste and playing music on my N73 sucks so badly I tried it once and never again.
Nokia has pulled some amazing turnabouts in the past though... and they are very strong in hardware, distribution, and the best at making excellent low cost phones.
It just seems to me Nokia is forgetting to make great phones while trying to become the big iPod competitor. They've been focusing on music for years and the results are pathetic for a company the size and financial heft of Nokia.
AoMoe @ Aug 5th 2007 2:44AM
"Nokia faces an uphill battle to stay at the top" this statement makes absolutely no sense.
anonymouspimp @ Jul 31st 2007 6:08PM
ACtually not a bad idea...
if you make it easily integrates with their phones (which i'm sure is the point) they already have the customers...
Plenty of them will pay for Nokia's service simply because it works well with their product. All they'd have to do is add a $10 charge to their current phone bill (not that much considering what many pay currently for phone service) and they could have an all-you-can-eat music download service.
If you think there are a lot of iPods out there... 100mil ipods will be nothing to the amount of Nokia mp3 playing phones that will be out there in the next couple years.
Bladefree21 @ Jul 31st 2007 6:10PM
Competition is a good thing generally for consumers, and they are trying to make some money as well.. I think it is good..
Sasha S. @ Jul 31st 2007 6:11PM
More competition is always better for the consumers, but unfortunately we are not yet there.
We are now at the stage when Apple would be competition has to understand what is that Apple offers. I doubt that Nokia, SonyEricsson, Motorola and others have the basic grasp of what is they are up against. It will probably take them 2 years (if not more) to fully understand that. Only then they will be able to start thinking about how to compete against it. I am sorry to say it but I can not see how Nokia can make ANYTHING that can compete with Apple.
As things are now - ANY Apple would be competitor (Nokia, SE, Moto, etc):
1. would need a kick-ass iTunes competitor (which they cant make bacause their own software was always bad)
2. A music store that is so good that people would see it as a alternative for iTunes (read: good selection, better price and yes ... no DRM - nothing less would suffice). Oh yes and they will need a good iTunes competitor to be a good interface with the store - see point 1
3. A series of devices that are worthy of being described as "iconic". Those devices MUST have user interface that is at least equal in quality and ease of use as iPods are
4. Spend BOATLOADS of money on advertising. SOrry but Ministry of Sound launch simply does not cut it. One would need the launch on the magnitude of Vista lauch - but better in content and execution.
So unless a company is ready to deliver ALL of the above, perfectly working and seamlessly integrated - they have no chance to even start competing with Apple.
Apple is a software / hardware integration company driven by a style and usability obsessed dictator (sorry, Steve) who is surounded by first class marketing and engineering team. Oh, yes - and they have one of the best industrial designers on the planet today. Nokia is driven by management who could not care less about music, their software sucks and design is being done in endless management meetings.
The only company that MIGHT have a shot at being an Apple competitor is Sony(Ericcson) but only if they got a totaly new management.
Read "Made in Japan" to see how Akio Morita (then a CEO) had to fight to get Sony management to build a first Walkman.
Too bad - it would be good for consumers if Apple had a competition.
Bladefree21 @ Jul 31st 2007 7:04PM
It's not that big, change can happen.. I agree that it would take some additional streamlining, which is coming about. The unlimited subscription based music is becoming more popular (more capable devices being added), more companies are becoming available for subscriber/purchase content.
Underlying standard formats across an array of devices would be necessary. I think the weakness that Apple may have is its device proprietary nature. DRM is coming along though is still in need of IMPROVEMENT..! Standardization would only need come so far for audio formats AAC, MP3, WMA, OGG, etc. so long as the consumer is able to get the product desired on the device they purchase phone, MP3 player, etc.. I am excited that it will happen..
Anthony @ Jul 31st 2007 7:28PM
I'm not really seeing this whole "competition is good for consumers" angle when it comes to music download services. Last time I checked, Apple's pricing for iTunes was pretty fair - in fact, Jobs has gone to bat for consumers by repeatedly rebuking the labels' requests for price hikes. I honestly don't think competition would "drive down the cost" of anything like that.
Jens @ Jul 31st 2007 8:56PM
Nokia doesn't have to beat Apple to be a major player in the music market. They've only got to be "good enough" and integrate the service into their handsets. I don't think they even see themselves as competing with the likes of iTunes, more likely they're trying to replicate the ringtone business model with over-the-air music sales to casual users.
Some perspective: there was < 10 million iPods sold Q1 2007 while Nokia sold > 90 million handsets during the same time.
Julian Bond @ Aug 1st 2007 3:17AM
Nokia should do what Amazon should do. Buy AllOfMp3.com and use the exact same model. They might have to raise the price a bit. But a service that sold non-DRM in any encoding format priced per megabyte would be a serious competitor to iTunes if it also undercut iTunes by a substantial margin.
Magallanes @ Aug 1st 2007 8:56AM
In my n95, buy a install a new game is piece of cake (choose a game, then click.. click and click) also you can install from a wifi connection so you don't need to also paid the bandwith used. I bet that nokia is trying to mimic the same but with music (and later with video).
And, in the same time, they are killing the business of ringtones, themes, and such that some operator charges for every download.
tekdroid @ Aug 1st 2007 5:39PM
artists communicating directly with their fans on their own terms is the next "music store". Not virtual slavery with these corporations doing what the record industry has been doing forever (ie. raping them).
http://www.vorbis.com
http://flac.sourceforge.net