Comes With Staggering Fees

Ars Technica reports that Nokia’s bundled Comes With Music service may be more expensive than anyone realized.

The report said that under the plan, anyone buying a Nokia handset would get access to UMG’s Total Music plan, with the “Comes With Music” price worked into the cost of the cell phone or smart phone, which we’ve all known about since Nokia announced it last year. But what turned out to be a surprise is that a “well-informed” industry executive told The Hollywood Reporter UMG would get a $35 cut from each Nokia phone sold. Meanwhile, Paid Content reports that a source “familiar with the situation” pegged the tag at $33.50, the article said.

The report went on to detail some notable limitations of the Comes With Music program, such as a high-but-unspecified cap on the “unlimited” part, the DRM-encumbered tracks, the “upgrade price” charged for burning CDs, and the subscription fees that kick in after the first year. For its part, Nokia has since denied the $35 charge report.

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