Nokia Music Store brings local content

Nokia will serve up locally relevant music and deliver a wide variety of music genres to consumers via the Nokia Music Store with content from independent labels and music aggregators from Singapore and Australia.

These include music ranging from popular to non-mainstream genres and independent artist signed to Singapore’s Ocean Butterflies Music, and Australia’s MGM Distribution, (The John Butler Trio, Sneaky Sound System), Shock Entertainment (Ricki-Lee, British India), and Obese Records (Hilltop Hoods).

Nokia Music Store users in Australia and Singapore can look forward to getting their hands on more locally resonant content once the Nokia Music Stores is live in their markets later this year, while consumers in the United Kingdom can download the content from the Nokia Music Store which has been up and running since last November.

Gautam Advani, Nokia’s head of go-to-market, devices, services and software for Southeast Asia-Pacific, said, “We can’t wait to bring the Nokia music service to music lovers in Asia, and to provide them with great local music choices from a plethora of labels through the Nokia Music Store.”

“Nokia will keep a strong focus on local music and these are just some that we have most recently signed. We are continuing to work closely with independents as well as the majors to ensure the widest variety of content and genres are covered, so that our consumers can enjoy a truly local music experience via the Nokia Music Store, with the seamless experience that we promise, to access their favorite music and anytime, anywhere they want it,” he added.

Labels in Australia and Singapore are pleased to be working with Nokia to deliver their content to mobile consumers.

Ocean Butterflies Music is an independent Mandopop label, distributing its brand of music widely to the region, including Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and China, while MGM is one of the largest distributors of local and international music in Australia. Obese Records is well-known for Australian hip hop and one of the most successful independent labels in Australia.

“Nokia has gone beyond Connecting People to connect music lovers from different ends of the world, the West and East, the old and new, the musicians and the music lovers. Being a leading independent music powerhouse in Asia, Ocean Butterflies is proud to collaborate with Nokia to provide content to its music platform which has the potential to change the world of digital music in Asia, particularly for the Chinese pop genre,” said Billy Koh, Ocean Butterflies Music founder and director.

“We’re extremely excited to work with Nokia on this download service which will open up new opportunities throughout the world for Australian independent artists,” said Sebastian Chase, CEO of MGM Distribution in Australia, an independent distribution hub for indie labels and artists.

“We’ve been representing a diverse range of Australia’s finest independent artists for 20 years and we welcome Nokia’s enthusiasm to help share their talents,” said Marcus Seal, CEO of Shock Entertainment.

“Nokia has taken a very big step toward the future. Obese Records is very excited to be a part of this global movement in music and looks forward to connecting with music lovers in a way that is both exciting and convenient,” said Ben Rynderman, operations manager of Obese Records.