Nokia announces Music+ service to rival Spotify

FINNISH PHONE MAKER Nokia has announced a premium version of its Music service in a bid to rival services like Spotify.

Nokia Music+, which is an extension of the Music app that comes preloaded on Nokia's Windows Phone 8 driven Lumia smartphones, will cost users €3.99 per month - undercutting Spotify, which costs €9.99 a month.

That doesn't mean Nokia's alternative is lacking in features though, as Nokia Music+ boasts unlimited downloads, the option to bring up lyrics and the ability to play Mixes on your computer, smart TV or other connected devices.

Music+ will also allow users to download tracks at "eight times the existing quality", although Nokia hasn't revealed the bitrate.

Nokia VP of entertainment Jyrki Rosenberg said, "It's the only smartphone music service out there offering access to millions of songs out of the box without the need to sign up, sign in, or suffer adverts in between enjoying the music. When you add in the ability to skip songs and save playlists for offline uses like the tube, you have something unique.

"We spend a lot of time listening to how people use the service and have even managed to half the amount of skips per songs played, which is a combination of our systems and musicologists understanding and shaping Nokia Music around the users.

"This is for people who care enough about music to pay something for more quality and choice, but don't want to pay €9.99 monthly." µ