Artists unsure about Nokia unlimited music downloads

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Artists unsure about Nokia unlimited music downloads

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By Editorial Team (Thursday, 9th October 2008)

The new Nokia Comes With Music package has been met with some scepticism by some musicians.

According to Mobile Choice, some artists are concerned that their work is being used as a "loss leader" and fear that they will suffer financially from the scheme.

Handsets such as the XpressMusic 5800 are now capable of holding a library of free music.

This has led some musicians to claim that the arrangement between music distributors will see them receive an even smaller quantity of royalties.

The service requires users to pay £130 for a one-off contract. This spans 12 months and enables subscribers to download an unlimited quantity of tracks to fill up the handset.

According to the Guardian website users will be able to keep files onto PCs whether or not they remain subscribed to the service once the contract expires.

It noted: "[This raises] the prospect of music-lovers assembling a free library of digital songs that would fill a small record shop if they were in physical form.

Among the companies who have agreed to be part of the scheme are EMI, Sony BMG, Universal and Warner Music.

While some claim that very little money will be made through the initiative, Simon Ainslie, managing director of Nokia, claims: "It is better for music companies to receive something for their music than nothing."

Those who do not want a Nokia but wish to have a music mobile phone may wish to purchase the Sony Ericsson W850i, which supports a memory stick to hold up to 4GB of audio files.