Warner Music Group is opening its catalogue for Nokia’s yet-to-be-launched music service, Comes With Music, becoming the third major label to sign up for the product after Sony BMG and Universal. Comes With Music, expected to launch in the second half of 2008, differs from other products on the market – such as Omnifone’s MusicStation – as it allows users to download unlimited music from participating labels and keep the music thereafter even if the phone contract ends. The service is expected to be bundled into the price of the Nokia handset or mobile contract as a yearly subscription with no per-download costs. “Nokia’s Comes With Music is the first global initiative to fundamentally align the interests of music companies with telecommunications companies,” commented Warner’s chairman and CEO, Edgar Bronfman Jr.

Nokia has previously stated it hopes to sign up all the major record labels, and reports this week suggest a deal with the last of the four major labels, EMI, is imminent. Reuters notes that having the three largest music labels already on board looks set to help Nokia attract smaller music companies and challenge the dominant pay-per-track sales model for digital music. The news agency claims that such unlimited download models could offer a shot in the arm to the ailing music industry, which is struggling to find ways to make up for falling CD sales. Reuters points out that the music download market totaled US$2.9 billion in 2007, whilst Nokia sold 146 million music phones last year. If all these had included the “Comes with Music” bundle, just an extra US$20 per phone would make Nokia’s service bigger than the total market.