Nokia has announced that Sony BMG has officially joined up to the forthcoming Nokia "Comes With Music" service, so far supported by one other major record label - Universal.

"This initiative represents a critical new way of gaining access to music, through which fans will be able to explore Sony BMG's vast catalog of recordings for an entire year", commented Thomas Hesse, Sony BMG exec.

"We think this business model will encourage users to sample a wide range of material, expand their musical tastes, and listen to more music than ever before. In the process, we think it will provide new opportunities to artists from every genre of music, and increase demand for music overall."

People who buy a Nokia "Comes With Music" device will have a year of access to the Sony BMG catalogue of music and will able to download tracks to both their mobile device and computer through the Nokia Music Store during the first twelve months that they own their Nokia device.

At the end of the 1-year period, they can keep their downloaded tracks and, should they purchase a new compatible device or computer, they can transfer their downloaded material by substituting their new device or computer for the original devices.

After the year is over, consumers will be able to buy tracks from the Nokia Music Store, or move on to a Nokia "unlimited access" subscription service to enjoy new releases and catalog tracks not downloaded during the initial year.

Comes With Music is expected to launch in the second half of 2008 on a range of Nokia devices in selected markets.

>> News - Universal/Nokia deal done
>> News - EMI on "Comes With Music"