03 September 2009

Nokia's EVP Niklas Savander Reveals
Subscription Renewal Plans For CWM Subscribers

Despite Nokia's conditional use of the terms "lifetime" "unlimited" and "free" when describing its highly anticipated 'Comes With Music' it holds some unpleasant surprises to its subscribers

Comes With Music does indeed allows owners to download as many songs as it is naturally possible thanks to Microsoft’s 'PlaysForSure' DRM scheme downloaded tracks can’t be played on other devices or burned to CDs.

Furthermore, once when the year is over, you’ll need to buy a new phone to get another 12 months access to the music base.

Fortunately, there is a sign of change, according to Music Ally and Nokia’s EVP of Services Niklas Savander.

“We now have a solution to what happens after the first 12 months,” Savander told Music Ally at the company’s conference in Stuttgart.

“We have an agreement with labels on the subscription model, for a renewal on a monthly basis. We have had a lot of feedback from operators on the need to transition when people reach the end of the 12 months, so this is going to make a big difference with the carriers.”

The obvious follow-up question: How much will it cost a month to continue with a Comes With Music subscription? Nokia isn’t putting a figure to it for now, but here’s the thing: it will be set by the company’s operator partners, not by Nokia.

Or, more accurately, operators will be able to subsidise the cost if they wish, or even roll it into the customer’s monthly data tariff. “The UK is the first place we will see that in October with Orange,” Savander told us.

“It will be interesting to see how operators price it. I know what the set price is for a month, but you know how much money operators are pumping into subsidies in general: do you believe it’s a marketing tool for customer retention, versus a business opportunity?”

On Spotify and app approvals: “We have to let the consumer choose. If somebody doesn’t like Nokia Music Store and wants Spotify, they have to be able to put that on their phone. It’s one of the deep philosophical differences between us and some of our competitors. If someone doesn’t like Ovi Maps and wants Google Maps, they must be able to install that on their phone. Limiting consumers’ access to services will always catch you in the end.”