Following Ireland and Netherlands, Nokia is bringing its music store to Australia and France. Again, users can download music from major record companies as well as independent labels and the top local artists.
In Australia, the Finish giant partnered with rock legend Jimmy Barnes, who will be the first local music recommender, suggesting his top playlist to store visitors. In addition, Nokia Music Store in Australia features an exclusive track from Pete Murray and Kate Miller-Heidke. The free track of the week will be from Stone Parade, winners of the Nokia Be Heard competition in 2007. Individual tracks cost AU$1.70 and albums from AU$17.00, while the streaming subscription for PC users costs AU$10.00 per month.
On the other hand, Nokia will have to invest more time to get local artists to sign up. Apparently, more than 60% of songs on the “Hit Parade” hits list are by local artists. Nokia Music Store in France sells individual tracks for 1.00 EUR, albums start from 10.00 EUR and the monthly streaming subscription costs 10 EUR.