The original instigator of this model was Universal Music Group (UMG), the world's largest music company, which conceived of the model under the name Total Music. Warner Music Group and Sony BMG Music have since joined in, leaving EMI as the only music major whose catalog will not be available on the Nokia service. 

Under this model, Nokia is reputedly paying music companies a monthly fee for each user who purchases a Comes with Music handset.  We noted previously that UMG alone was getting US $5 per month for 12 months, for a total of $60; it's unknown whether that figure still holds and what level of subsidy the other two majors are getting. 

The only handset that supports Comes with Music thus far is the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic.  Carphone Warehouse is taking users' information for pre-registration, but it has not announced pricing, which leads us to believe that music companies and Nokia are still haggling over terms.  Ironically, Carphone Warehouse currently offers a Nokia 5310 for free through Orange UK with an 18-month contract.  The device is available without a SIM card from Nokia for GBP 149 ($264). 

Comes with Music is the music majors' attempt to get revenue from device makers, as an alternative to getting it from advertisers, and as another step in the inevitable process of enabling consumers to get it legitimately without paying for it themselves.  The model is possible because the music majors and Nokia share the goal of reducing Apple's market share.  Nokia's goal of accelerating the pace at which consumers buy new mobile handsets also coincides with the music companies' interest in limiting the time window for "free" downloads, which the DRM enforces.

Assuming that EMI and various indie labels sign on to Comes with Music, the model could result in collateral damage to services like Rhapsody and Napster, in which users pay monthly subscription fees for substantially the same level of access to music downloads.  But as we've said, the real collateral damage is the consumers' perceptions of the value of music -- which declines with virtually every new business model that appears nowadays.