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CELLPHONE maker Nokia opened what is believed to be Singapore's largest online music store yesterday, serving up a catalogue that includes songs from both global acts like U2 and local singers like Hady Mirza.
In the latest sign that the compact disc is on the way out, the store lets users download songs onto their cellphones or home computers.
With a catalogue that the company says contains 'millions of songs', it will compete with existing Web stores from Soundbuzz and StarHub, which have been the main sources of online music here for years.
Nokia's songs sell for $2 each - comparable with offerings from Soundbuzz and StarHub. Albums cost about $16.
Customers can also use a service that lets them play the entire collection online without downloading the tracks. This costs $16 a month.
Despite the small market, Nokia Singapore general manager Grant McBeath said the company opened the store because residents here are tech-savvy.
The Singapore store is the second to open in the region, after Australia.
Its aim is to replicate the success of Apple's iTunes store, which has sold four billion songs in five years. iTunes is available in more than 20 countries but not Singapore.
The growth of such stores has been fuelled by digital downloads of songs, which users can transfer directly to an MP3 player or burn onto a CD.
In the United States, iTunes outsold major CD retailers like WalMart during the first two months of this year.
Musicians, too, are turning to digital downloads to stay in step with the new generation of fans bred on the instant gratification offered by the Internet and cellphones.
Madonna, whose first albums were released on cassette tapes and vinyl records in the 1980s, started selling songs from her latest album Hard Candy via cellphones before the CD hit stores this week.
For now, Nokia's songs cannot be played back directly on Apple's iPods, the most popular MP3 players, because Nokia uses a different anti-piracy technology from Apple. It is something that may irk potential customers.
Music fan and solutions engineer Yee Wai Heng, 33, said Nokia should start selling tracks without anti-piracy technology, just like iTunes has in the US. 'It's an unnecessary inconvenience for paying customers,' he said.
Mr McBeath said Nokia's new store will help sell more of its phones, many of which come with music functions like those on MP3 players.
He added that songs may be sold without any anti-piracy technology in future, so users can transfer them freely among their players.
siewtha@sph.com.sg
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