Date: 04-24-2008
Sony BMG, the world’s second-largest music label, has inked a deal with Nokia to make its music catalog available on select Nokia devices. Nokia will be offering free 12-month access to music from all Sony BMG artists to buyers of its “Comes with Music” phones, which are to be released in the second half of 2008 and which will include music from top record label Universal as well as Sony BMG. Sony’s move is being cited by many as the label’s deepest venture into free music, reflective of the industry’s desperate attempts to remain profitable in the face of shrinking CD sales, piracy, and Apple’s iTunes. Tero Ojanpera, executive vice president and head of Nokia Entertainment, said, “We’ve seen a lot of interest with bigger and smaller labels.”
