 "Nokia to Unveil Online Music Recommender")
In a bid to counter Sony’s new music service online, MBUZZ, Nokia has launched its very own music recommending service in collaboration with over forty independent music stores across the globe to create customizable music recommendations for Nokia customers. The service aims to keep music enthusiasts in touch with the latest hits as well as to help them discover unknown artistes.
Independent record stores such as Fat Beats (New York), Reckless (Chicago), Pure Groove (London), Hard Wax (Berlin) and Mona Records (Tokyo) will offer personalized selection of music across 12 genres ranging from Pop to Rock to Classical, Jazz and Electronic. Experts from each of these stores will bring together music from their specialist genre as latest recommendations and editorial features direct to the user’s email inbox.
The Music Recommender allows users to browse music, search for music according to recommender, genre or style, listen to music clips and read weekly updates, artist interviews, view city music guides and even information on the stores and recommenders. Once registered, subscribers even receive an instant playlist of 30 second samples tailored specifically to their tastes and purchase the tracks they like.
David Bowie is taking the role of music ‘godfather’ to music recommender and will contribute every month through features and podcasts. He will also appear in a short film, by Wim Wenders (Buena Vista Social Club), to advocate new music and the culture of record stores around the world. Tommi Mustonen, director of multimedia for Nokia said, “We’ve searched around the world to find the most passionate and credible music specialists. The stores featured on Music Recommenders have the experts who are supporting and breaking new artists. We’re thrilled to have David Bowie - a musical icon - sharing his own passion for what’s new in music. We are able to make a wealth of knowledge, passion and foresight available on a global scale - something that has never before been attempted.”
Music Recommenders will be available in a beta version starting in November 2006.
Click here to get more details.