Nokia’s “Comes with Music” program, once pitched as a viable contender to Apple’s dominance, is now beginning to raise serious questions of feasibility. According to the Nokia website, the subscription service would:

“allow users to purchase a Nokia device with a year of unlimited access to millions of tracks from a range of great artists - past, present and future. Once the year is complete, customers can keep all their music without having to worry about it disappearing when their subscription is over.” 

Nokia has been able to secure cooperation from Universal Music and Sony BMG, but has signed a deal that requires the company to pay a wholesale per-unit rate for user downloads over a certain ceiling, reportedly a miniscule thirty-five songs per user. Nokia has not yet set a price for the service, but there are some indications it may have overreached in the name of innovation. The UK's Register is reporting that at least two senior executives at the company have been replaced over problems with the program’s business strategy. While this could be premature hand wringing, it seems advisable that those interested in the program should commit early and download often, before the mounting royalties force Nokia to rework the terms of its offer. [Hypebot]