Nokia Confident Of Signing Majors

Nokia is confident of securing deals with the world’s leading record companies ahead of launching its flagship Comes With Music service later this year, according to Financial Times.

Nokia announced in December plans for its music service for mobile phones, which enables people to buy mobiles with access to Universal Music’s entire back catalogue for up to one year.

Now the Finnish multinational communications company is in talks with Sony-BMG, EMI and Warner Music, plus up to about a dozen or so indie labels about giving people access to their catalogues.

"I am hopeful at the time of launch, technically we are able to deliver other labels. Certainly our target is to have other labels on board," Anssi Vanjoki, Nokia executive VP of marketing, told the FT.

Comes With Music, which is expected to launch in the second half of this year, is intended to be one of the cornerstones of Nokia’s expansion into Internet services.

Such services are the biggest change to Nokia’s business strategy since it became the world’s largest mobile phone maker in the 1990s. It is seeking to generate billions of euros in the next three to five years by offering music, games and navigation services on mobiles.

Apple, the U.S. computer maker and manufacturer of the iPhone, is also reportedly in talks with the leading record companies about starting a similar service to Comes With Music.

Nokia recently named Dave Stewart, formerly of Eurythmics, as a founding member of its new Artist Advisory Council, an initiative created to foster an artist-friendly environment within the company.