Nokia's Indian Music Store goes live with over 3 million tracks

Company Brief

Mumbai, August 26, 2009

Nokia announced the launch of its much awaited Music Store service in India at Nokia Music Connects, one of country’s largest music forums, initiated in association with Hong Kong based Music Matters and leading Indian media portal Indiatelevision.com. The Music Store from Nokia will offer music lovers access to over 3 million international and Bollywood and regional soundtracks across all genres. To begin with, the consumers can experience Nokia Music store (http://music.nokia.co.in) via inbox vouchers included in all XpressMusic handsets and select Nseries devices and ESeries devices such as N97, N86 , E71, E63 amongst others.

To deliver the most updated content Nokia has tied up with leading international music labels such as Universal Music Group, Sony Music, EMI and Warner and major independent Indian record labels including Tseries, Yashraj Music, Saregama, BIG Music, Venus and many more. The company has partnered with India’s leading music body, Indian Music Industry (IMI), a consortium of over 150 music companies, to give consumers an opportunity to discover and enjoy their favorite music on the go across genres and languages. Nokia has also signed up with GIRI and Phoneytunes for access to South India and North regional content respectively.

Additionally, Nokia also used the Nokia Music Connects platform to showcase three exciting music devices - Nokia 5630 XpressMusic, Nokia 5530 XpressMusic and Nokia 5230. The new devices are Music Store compatible and would be available in the Indian market later this year.

Speaking at the launch of Nokia Music Store, Mr Timo Ihamuotila, Executive Vice President - Sales, Nokia said “Music is an all-consuming passion with most people, especially in a country like India where it is an intrinsic part of the culture. Nokia is committed to connect people to what matters to them and with our pioneering music services and devices, we are well-placed to bring a great experience and immense value to the consumers.

“We also believe that the scale and reach of Nokia’s customer base creates a significant opportunity for artists, labels and other music industry stakeholders to generate additional revenue for their offerings,” Mr Ihamuotila, said.

Sharing details of the India Music Store, Elizabeth Schimel, Vice President, Music, Nokia said “We are delighted to launch our 21st Music Store in India. With over 3 million tracks, India Music Store will have the most diverse portfolios of content, covering 20 genres and almost 90% of the local music in India. “Moreover, with game changing solutions like the distribution of music redemption vouchers, improved user experience and the cooperation of our vendor partners, the Music Store will revolutionise the music industry,” she added.

Mr. D Shivakumar, Managing Director, Nokia India said, “Music is a very local experience and that is why the India Music Store has content from Oscar winner AR Rahman to the golden voice of yesteryear’s KL Saigal, from South’s Yesudas to East’s Bhupen Hazarika, along with the international majors. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the entire music industry and our esteemed partners for helping the Music Store come alive for the Indian consumers.”

Nokia Music Store

Available in 21 markets across the world, Nokia Music Store offers people the chance to enjoy music directly on their Nokia device or personal computer. The Nokia Music Store, with its compelling combination of free track downloads and depth of content empowers you to connect to music you want, in the way you want.

Other highlights of the Nokia Music Store include the ability to listen to a 30 second clip of any track on the store before downloading it. People will be able to browse for new music, get recommendations or search for their favorite artists, songs or albums all from the palm of their hand. Once a track captures their attention, users will be able to download directly to a mobile device without having to download the same song again on their computer. They will also be able to transfer songs via a PC to compatible Nokia devices.

To begin with Nokia Music Store will be available in India on Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, Nokia 5130 XpressMusic, Nokia 5310 XpressMusic, Nokia 5530 XpressMusic, Nokia 7210, N97, N86, E63 and E71

Nokia 5630 XpressMusic

Nokia 5630 XpressMusic, a new ultra-slim S60 device offers a complete entertainment and music experience with unique “energy saving” features such as power save option, ambient light sensor that reads how much natural light is available and energy efficient micro-USB charger.

Building on the tradition of delivering superior entertainment experiences, the Nokia 5630 XpressMusic features a world class music player for excellent audio quality, music and videos on-the-go through dedicated keys, and music essentials including a 4GB memory card for storing up to 3000 tracks, with option to upgrade up to 16GB microSD memory card. Offering a seamless music experience, Nokia 5630 XpressMusic is compatible with Nokia Music Store, allowing consumers to browse and download tracks from the Nokia Music Store.

But that’s not all the Nokia 5630 Xpressmusic is designed to have reduced power consumption (25-30% reduction). It features a plethora of energy features that means it only uses the power it needs. Its power save option has an ambient light sensor that reads how much natural light is available and only adds extra additional illumination to the screen and keypad if needed. It also comes with Nokia’s most energy efficient micro-USB charger, plus visual and audio alerts to remind people to unplug the charger from the wall when the device battery is full.

Nokia 5530 XpressMusic

The compact Nokia 5530 XpressMusic is truly a music and entertainment device with a complete touch interface. The home screen features one touch shortcuts to content and popular social networks, like Facebook and MySpace. The innovative 'people carousel' features thumbnail images of up to 20 close friends and provides easy access to them and their communications history including emails, phone calls, photos or other social media updates.

In true XpressMusic form, the Nokia 5530 XpressMusic is a great music player with 27 hours of playback time, excellent audio quality and a 4 GB memory card for storing music and other media. The device is Music Store comapitable and consumers can purchase new music through the Music Store, either directly on the phone or through a PC. The music collection is easily managed and can be synchronized with the PC using the Nokia Music client for PC.

Nokia 5230

Available in an array of dazzling colors, the Nokia 5230 features an easy to use music player with 33 hours of playback time. Nokia 5230 is competitively priced at 149 Euros. In select markets the Nokia 5230 will include Comes with Music service offering truly unbeatable value with all you can eat music. The recommended price of the Nokia 5230 with the Comes with Music service will be 259 Euros before subsidies and taxes. For a mighty music experience, any headphones with a 3,5mm AV connector can be used. In addition, the Nokia 5230 features a Media Bar with quick access to your favorite media and applications, such as music, photos, YouTube or Ovi Share.

The innovative Contacts bar features thumbnail images for up to 20 close friends and provides easy access to them and their communications history including emails, phone calls, photos or other social media updates.

For further information, please contact:

Nokia India Private Limited

Geetanjali Sharma

Tel: +91 124 4199358

Email: communications.india@nokia.com