Mobile phone manufacturer Sony Ericsson introduced an all-you-can eat music subscription service called PlayNow Plus in a bid to compete against rival Nokia’s pending Comes With Music service.
The PlayNow Plus offer is simply a repackaged version of the existing MusicStation service from Omnifone, with a few extras. For an as-yet undetermined monthly fee, users will be able to download an unlimited number of songs to their handsets via the wireless networks of participating operators.
At launch, scheduled for the fourth quarter, only Swedish operator Telenor will offer the service, with Sony Ericsson pointing to a broader European rollout early next year.
The PlayNow Plus service initially will be loaded onto the company’s W902 Walkman phone, and the company plans to augment the service with up to 1,000 tracks preloaded onto each device.
The subscription service will also be available from users’ home computers. Additionally, Sony Ericsson hinted that users may keep some tracks downloaded from the service even after their subscription ends, although precise details on that element are not yet available.
Nokia, meanwhile, is scheduled to go live with its Comes With Music offer at a launch party in London Oct. 2. That model provides customers with a yearlong music subscription membership with the purchase of a compatible phone.
