Orange set for U-turn on Nokia music services
Published: 3 November, 2008
When Nokia launched into the internet services business in September 2007, with its Ovi portal, its main carrier partners were nervous about the mighty Finn's shift towards a direct-to-consumer, content-driven model. While Vodafone and Telefonica quickly came to an accommodation with Nokia, Orange remained hostile to Nokia-branded services that could compete with its own portal. But the power of the number one handset brand seems to be winning over the French carrier, which admitted last week that it was in talks with Nokia regarding its new Comes With Music unlimited downloads offering.
Orange does support some Nokia web services, though has stopped short of offering the Ovi front door or brands from its homescreens. However, Comes With Music may change all that. The subscription service, which allows users to download unlimited tracks and keep them even after the subscription expires, is attractive in terms of pricing and flexibility and provides a serious challenge to Apple's iTunes - and of course, while Orange offers the iPhone in France, it is keen to counteract the high profile device in other territories, notably the UK.
With Nokia launching a multimillion euro advertising campaign this weekend to promote CWM, Orange will be keen to benefit from some of that, rather than leaving it to Nokia's only current European cellco partner for its music platform, 3. Also, retailer Carphone Warehouse is selling CWM prepaid and contract handsets in the UK with Orange SIM cards. All this means a quick deal is expected between Nokia and Orange, at least for the UK market, which is widely seen as a bellwether for the whole region. 3UK sells CWM on the Nokia N95 8Gb with 300 minutes and texts for €45 per month.
The main fly in the ointment of ongoing negotiations may be the agreement by music publishers EMI, Warner Music and indie label Beggars Group to launch their own unlimited download service, priced at €130. The new offering, Datz Music Lounge, can be played on any cellphone or portable music player, breaking the tie-in to a particular handset or carrier. As with CWM, subscribers will be given access for a year and keep all the music they download.
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