Nokia Music launches in Canada for all Lumia handsets

Nokia Canada announced the launch of Nokia Music in Canada, its highly-acclaimed free music streaming service. Nokia Music is exclusive to Nokia Lumia smartphones, providing consumers with a simple and delightful way to discover and enjoy music. There is no sign-up, no ads and no subscription, meaning users can dive right into Nokia Music's catalogue of 18 million songs.

Launched last night at the Air Canada Centre right before the sold-out concert of The Killers, Nokia invited noted music-expert Alan Cross to talk about the trends in how people are consuming music. Nokia Music is a free service that doesn't only stream over 18 million tracks in curated playlist form, it allows users to purchase the songs they want individually. A paid version Nokia Music + offers higher quality audio files, unlimited skips on playlists and costs only $3.99 a month.

"Technology has shaped the listening behaviour of many Canadians and transformed the music industry by giving music lovers more listening choices. However, with so many options and so much music out there, it's easy to get overwhelmed (and even discouraged) when it comes to discovering new music," said Alan Cross, long time radio broadcaster and musicologist famous for The Ongoing History of New Music and The Secret History of Rock. "What Nokia Music offers is a seamless, easy-to-use way to listen to new and old music, all with a touch of a button."

One of the main features of Nokia Music is Mix Radio. Consumers can stream free music from a suite of more than 150 exclusive playlists that are hand-crafted and kept up-to-date by a dedicated staff. The playlists span a wide spectrum of musical genres from franco pop to hockey songs for the rink.  Nokia Music also offers playlists created by global artists.

Beyond the curated playlists, music fans can create their own personal soundtrack by selecting up to three artists via the Nokia Music 'CREATE' function, which taps a library of millions of songs and generates a playlist based on, and inspired by, the artists they love.

For maximum convenience, Nokia Music playlists can also be enjoyed offline so consumers can listen to their favourite playlists anytime, anywhere - perfect for a long flight, journey to work or train ride.

To enhance their music experience further, Nokia Music's 'GIG FINDER' pinpoints live shows taking place nearby, even helping consumers buy tickets, find the venue with HERE Maps and get directions - all from within the Nokia Music app.

For people that love the free service and want even more, there is also the Nokia Music+ service. For $3.99 per month, the service allows consumers unlimited songs skips on playlists and to take as many mixes offline as they want, access their music from web, mobile and laptop, and switch to high-quality audio on Wi-Fi.

"We believe that Nokia Music offers great value and will revolutionize the way Canadian music lovers can explore, discover and enjoy music," said Jyrki Rosenberg, Vice President of Nokia Entertainment. "We are always striving to give Canadians the best service possible and we have worked extra hard to ensure Nokia Music meets the expectations of the demanding, active and inspired music fans in Canada."

The Nokia Music app is available for download now to all Canadian Lumia owners from the Nokia Collection in the Windows Phone Store.