Definitive Review: Comes with Music

[slitchfield]

Rafe's been trying out Nokia's newest Music service offering, Comes with Music - for real, with a full retail package. There may be some caveats with the system (PC/MSIE-only, DRM-heavy), but overall he comes away very impressed. How is the PC client to use and what's the overall experience like for a new music-loving phone user? Can you retro-fit CwM to an existing handset? What can you do and what can't you do with the downloaded music? Find out in Rafe's definitive Comes with Music review.

Read on in the full article.

[tkboxer]

So how will they sell a "Comes with Music" phone in the U.S. when they don't have a music store in the U.S. ?

[Rafe]

The Musc Store is coming to the US in 2009. I imagine the USA will get CwM at the same time or shortly afterwards.

[SimonJudge]

Are you really sure it's unlimited?...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musi...mes.with.music

Simon

[Rafe]

Yes I'm sure it is unlimited. The Guardian story is mistaken (note the story is from September 25th before the Nokia Remix event - e.g. the big UK Indies are included in Comes with Music).

I checked on this point with Nokia. There are no set limits (like 120). As noted in the article there is an abuse usage clause in the T&C's, but this is not set at a specific number of tracks.

[Dynite]

So the comes with music phones actually comes without music until 50 of her maj's have been given to El Nokia?

[Rafe]

Well yes in a sense. You buy a Comes with Music device so it is all included in one price when you buy the handset.... It is not an add-on that you can buy. This is what gives it the perception of being free.

I mentioned £50 because that's the extra you have to pay. £4 a month is quite a good deal in my book.

[tenoce]

And having the newer Nokia's FM transmitter inbuilt, you can listen to the music with "low-fi" equipment. You dont even have to have bluetooth car stereo, just a normal car radio.

[snoyt]

Sounds like an semi-offline unlimited music subscription for a couple of pounds/euros a month on a dedicated device. No expensive 3G contract needed. No hefty 3G battery use for streaming required. The real music lover would probabely see it as a cheap and practical solution to listen freely to anything he likes and only buy those that really stay popular in his ear.

There is lots of music I'd love to listen too while new, but won't buy because it wears down after a few listens. Thumbs up Nokia. How long until this is as standard as a GPS on their phones?

[Rafe]

Snoyt - personally that's how I expect to use the service. I'll probably still buy the stuff I really like in a DRM free format, but Comes with Music gives me a chance to get easy access to all kinds of stuff.

[viipottaja]

Rafe, I gather this is obvious but seemed to be missing in your article: you can of course download directly on and into your phone as well, right?

Second, can you clarify a bit, as far as you can now say, what happens at the end of the year. Say, I have a 5310 with CWM, and then at the end of the year I buy a N95 8GB with CWM. I can presumably transfer and listen to all the tracks I bought the first year on the new N95? Or not?

How about if I only buy a new CWM device in say 3 years from now. Can I transfer from the original CWM I had?

'Unlimited' to me means no limits, which means 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. That's clearly not what's on offer here.

Personally DRM is the deal breaker for me. Even free is too much to pay for that junk.

[bartmanekul]

Originally Posted by viipottaja

Second, can you clarify a bit, as far as you can now say, what happens at the end of the year. Say, I have a 5310 with CWM, and then at the end of the year I buy a N95 8GB with CWM. I can presumably transfer and listen to all the tracks I bought the first year on the new N95? Or not?

Not at the moment, but apperently Nokia are working on a transfer system. Although I like the sound of CwM, theres no way Id have it until there is one in place.

I would also like to be able to add it to my phone (will be an N85). I dont want to have to buy a xpress music phone just to get this service.

[Rafe]

Rafe, I gather this is obvious but seemed to be missing in your article: you can of course download directly on and into your phone as well, right?

Second, can you clarify a bit, as far as you can now say, what happens at the end of the year. Say, I have a 5310 with CWM, and then at the end of the year I buy a N95 8GB with CWM. I can presumably transfer and listen to all the tracks I bought the first year on the new N95? Or not?

How about if I only buy a new CWM device in say 3 years from now. Can I transfer from the original CWM I had?

You can, as far I know (i.e. not personally tested), download music directly to the device where the Music Store can be accessed from the device. The 5310 does not support the store OTA. The N95 8GB does. Incidentally if you access the store from a second handset it knows it is not your Comes with Music device and redirects you to the 'pay' store.

At the end of the year you can transfer the collection a new PC or a new Comes with Music device once every three months. I'm not sure of the exact details (i.e. what is a Comes with Music device). I'm not sure of the exact mechanism, but yes you can listen to the tracks you previously downloaded. I'll try and find out more about how exactly this works (I suspect some kind of license re-sync might be necessary). And the same would apply three years from now. During this time they would keep working on the PC.

[viipottaja]

Cool, sounds good.

I am surprised by not being able to access the Store over the air with 5310. Does it not support internet browsing at all, is the Music Store only compatible with S60 phones or what is the reason? That to me seems like a serious drawback as the teenies in particular, I am sure, would love to listen to and dowload stuff when out and about being cool on the high street..