Nokia open to DRM-free Comes with Music for UK
Outlines reasons for hitting China first
Nokia's decision to make its unlimited Comes with Music download service DRM-free in China first raised some eyebrows, and TechRadar has spoken to the Finnish firm to find out why.
The good news is this move may be replicated in other territories, meaning tunes would no longer be locked to a computer and a single phone.
Doug Dawson, head of media relations at Nokia, told TechRadar that the Chinese market was so rife with piracy that making music DRM-free would at least help against viruses and low quality files:
"This is the first time Comes with Music is DRM-free. We believe a DRM-free model offers a business solution to the unique Chinese music market where piracy has had a stronghold to date," he said.
Improving the quality
"In addition to music being free – and legal – I should also point out that Comes With Music offers music fans in China a better quality, virus-free experience. High quality sound, full album art, correct metadata among others.
"Regarding the UK, today's DRM-free announcement relates only to China. While I can't provide details of future launches, I can say we are always evaluating, innovating and evolving our business model to deliver a compelling offering for every market in which we operate."
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We really hope that Nokia's Comes with Music service does come without DRM locks soon - then it would be a truly great opponent for Spotify, with a simple upfront payment making it a real proposition, especially when coupled with Symbian^3.
Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grew with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.