Sony Ericsson unveiled PlayNow Plus music service (See all news)

In response to Nokia's Comes with Music service, Sony Ericsson announced a new music download service for mobile phones called PlayNow Plus. The service will be available only through telecoms operators and will give its subscribers unlimited access to Sony BMG, Warner Music, EMI and Universal Music Group music catalogs.

"Expanding our PlayNow service portfolio by adding PlayNow Plus and by launching PlayNow arena in Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria and the UK during the fourth quarter, are key elements of the Sony Ericsson service strategy," said Rikko Sakaguchi, Senior Vice President at Sony Ericsson.

"These steps and the addition of Universal's catalogue to the music offering in both services gives us every possibility to provide customers and consumers with what we feel is important and requested - an unparalleled user experience on Sony Ericsson devices."

The first mobilephone that will be PlayNow Plus enabled is the Sony Ericsson W902 Walkman. As part of the deal, the handset will be preloaded with 1000 of the most popular recent music tracks.

The good news is that all the downloaded music can also be played on your PC but, unlike Nokia's Comes With Music service, the service will not allow users to keep all of the music files they have downloaded once their service contract expires. According to the press release, at the end of the contract the users will be able to keep only 300 DRM-free songs.

Sony Ericsson’s PlayNow Plus will first launch with operator Telenor in Sweden in the Q4 2008, with further roll-outs around the world but no earlier than 2009.