Nokia's new Comes With Music service is set to increase the pressure on
, as well as other online music services offered by operators such as Vodafone and Orange. In 2008 the company will be releasing
mobile phones offering millions of songs
, yours to keep forever, free of charge.
But in launching a free music service, will Nokia risk killing off its recently opened Nokia Music Store? The service debuted in the UK just last month and will be rolled out across Europe and the rest of the world next year. Tracks are priced at 80p each, or £8 for an album. So is Nokia now in competition with itself?
Nokia vs Nokia
"Yes, I guess you could say that," Tommi Mustanen, director of Nokia Nseries Hear New, Multimedia, told Tech.co.uk. "But I would have nothing against Nokia Comes With Music knocking out the Nokia Music Store."
Presumably so long as people are getting their music from Nokia instead of its competitors, the company will be making money. And of course, the two services won't necessarily be targeting the same people. While the Nokia Music Store enables anyone to buy music, regardless of their brand of mobile phone, the Nokia Comes With Music service will only be offered on new Nokia handsets coming next year.
There's still no word on how much the new Nokia Comes With Music phones will cost, but a Nokia representative confirmed it would be 'competitive'. It would have to be - we reckon it's likely to be similarly priced to the Apple iPhone.