Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2010/08/20/not_nokia_music/

Nokia drops Nokia from Nokia Music

What's an Ovi?

By Andrew Orlowski

Posted in Legal, 20th August 2010 10:13 GMT

The world's biggest mobile company is to remove the obscure and confusing "Nokia" branding from its key strategic music service, Comes With Music, and lavish it with the world-renowned and highly respected "Ovi" brand, instead.

The news didn't merit an official announcement, but was leaked to bloggers instead. A spokesperson explained the move:

"The new name is also simpler for music fans around the world to understand, and when presented in local language, will better communicate our truly local service proposition in each market. In doing so, we are giving our users a simplified, Ovi-branded experience."

Quite right.

People often ask, "What's a Nokia? - is it some new kind of yoga or a fashionable new diet?" Then you remind them - it's the platform for the Ovi mobile services experience - and the fog of confusion quickly clears.

The Comes With Music program bundles unlimited access to music with a Nokia device for a period of 12, 18 or 24 months. Users can then keep the music they download, or pay to renew the subscription. The phone giant pulled its other music service, the Music Store, which is available in 23 countries, under its the Ovi services brand some time ago.

In related news, Nokia will no longer sponsor a high-profile New York events venue. The hi-tech 2,100 seat Nokia Times Square Theater will become the Best Buy Theater. Nokia will continue to sponsor two larger venues in Los Angeles.

A spokesperson told the New York Times it was more interested in "reaching customers where they consume content, online, as opposed to at a physical venue".

The immense pulling power and formidable reputation of "Ovi" should help there. ®