Nokia adds the X Factor to new music service

Mobile phone manufacturer Nokia has signed a crucial deal with Sony BMG to add the music label's artists to its unlimited music service, due to launch later this year.

The arrival of Sony means Nokia has now signed up two of the world's four music majors - Universal Music leapt on board late last year - to a service which is being keenly watched by the mobile phone operators as it may kill demand for their existing mobile music download services.

Sony's roster of artists includes Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan, Foo Fighters, the Ting Tings and X Factor winners Leon Jackson, Leona Lewis and Shayne Ward.

The Nokia service - called Comes With Music - will give consumers who buy a special handset the chance to download as much music as they like on their mobile phone and computer during their one-year mobile phone contract.

At the end of their contract, users can keep their downloaded tracks and transfer the music to new devices.

Existing music services which label their product as unlimited only let consumers keep playing their tracks if they continue to pay a weekly or monthly subscription.

Rival MusicStation, which already has a deal with Vodafone for its unlimited subscription-based music service, is planning a service similar to Comes With Music. It has signed up handset maker LG and hopes to have a phone ready by the summer.

Nokia, meanwhile, is confident that it will be able to get EMI and Warner Music on board in time for the launch of Comes With Music.

The Finnish company, which is the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer, has yet to find a mobile phone operator willing to sign up to a service that could destroy consumer appetite for their existing mobile phone music download stores. Many mobile phone networks see Nokia's move into content as a direct threat to their relationship with their own customers.

Nokia is planning to launch at least three new phones that can access the new music service in the second half of this year.

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