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MixRadio

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(Redirected from Nokia MixRadio)

Nokia Music Store / Ovi / Comes With Music / MixRadio
Developer(s)Nokia (2007-2014)
Microsoft Mobile (2014-2015)
Line Corporation (2015-2016)
Initial release2007; 17 years ago (2007)
Final release
4.5.2766 (Android), 1.7.0.2723 (iOS), 4.5.4.481 (Windows Phone) / 10 March 2016; 8 years ago (2016-03-10), 16 February 2016; 8 years ago (2016-02-16), 11 March 2016; 8 years ago (2016-03-11)
Operating systemAndroid
iOS
Apple Watch
Windows
OS X
Amazon Appstore
BlackBerry
Windows Phone
Tizen
Adidas miCoach Smart Run
Symbian
Harman Kardon
Websitemixradiomusic.com
The list of songs as displayed by Mix Radio on windows phone.

MixRadio was an online music streaming service owned by Line Corporation. The service was first introduced by Nokia in 2011 as Nokia Music for Windows Phone, serving as a successor to Nokia's previous Nokia Music Store/Comes with Music/Ovi Music Store initiatives, which was based on the LoudEye/OD2 platform.[1] After its acquisition of Nokia's mobile phone business, the service was briefly maintained by Microsoft Mobile Oy before it was sold to Japanese internet company Line Corporation in 2015. Following the acquisition, MixRadio expanded to Android and iOS in May 2015.[2]

On 16 February 2016, Line announced that MixRadio would be discontinued, citing "a careful assessment of the subsidiary's overall performance" and "the financial challenges posed by the music streaming market".[3]

Availability

[edit]

The service, in MixRadio form, was available as a free app for Android, iOS, Apple Watch, Amazon Appstore, BlackBerry, Windows Phone, Adidas miCoach Smart Run and Harman Kardon Omni Speaker range.

Nokia Music Store was available in 33 countries: Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States and Vietnam.

France

[edit]

In France, the Nokia Music Store went live on 23 April 2008.[4]

UAE

[edit]

The Nokia Music Store went live in the United Arab Emirates in November 2008.[5]

Australia

[edit]

The Nokia Music Store went live in Australia on 22 April 2008.[6][7]

India

[edit]

The Nokia Music Store launched in India in 2009.[8][9][10]

Middle East

[edit]

On February 11, 2010, Comes with Music was introduced in 11 countries and territories in the Middle East: Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, the Palestinian Territories, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman.[11][12][13][14]

South Africa

[edit]

The Nokia Music Store was launched in South Africa on 24 April 2009.[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] The Comes With Music product followed on 27 August 2009.[24][25][26] The offerings were rebranded to align with Nokia's Ovi branding on 9 September 2010.[27][28]

Spain

[edit]

The service was announced for Spain on 28 September 2008.[29]

History

[edit]

2007-2011

[edit]

The service was originally launched in 2007 when Nokia set up their Nokia Comes With Music service, in partnership with Universal Music Group International, Sony BMG, Warner Music Group, EMI, and hundreds of independent labels and music aggregators, to allow 12, 18, or 24 months of unlimited free-of-charge music downloads with the purchase of a Nokia Comes With Music edition phone. Files could be downloaded on mobile devices or personal computers, and kept permanently.[30]

On 29 August 2007 Nokia launched the Ovi Music Store as part of the Ovi platform.[31][32] services portal from Nokia.[33] The original idea behind the store was to provide to all Nokia MP3 capable mobile users a music store on the phone as on the PC. The Ovi Music Store officially opened in the UK on 1 October 2007 with offering of music from SonyBMG, Universal Music, EMI and Warner Music Group, as well as others.[34] This service had its own software to serve as front gate of the store on the PC and on the phones. It was called Nokia Ovi Player, and later Nokia Music Player.

In October 2008, Nokia announced the Nokia 5800, a direct competitor to the iPhone and with it the service Comes With Music,[35] which consists of a year of free music downloads included in the price of the phone. This service was optional to the carriers.

Within the box of the phone there was a card with an ID that will be linked to the PC (MAC address) and mobile phone (IMEI), so that PC and mobile phone have unlimited music downloads for over a year.[30]

Until 2010 the service had DRM files that prevented files from being burn onto CDs, allowing playback from mobile devices and the PC software only. Market conditions encouraged a move to DRM free, as evidenced in the Brainstorm Magazine article "Music wants to be mobile...and DRM free". In case the user wanted to burn the song, they had to buy it from the store. During the latter part of 2010 and into 2011, Nokia Music continued developing its app client for the MeeGo platform along with its existing Symbian platform.[36]

In January 2011 Nokia withdrew this programme in 27 countries, due to its failure to gain traction; existing subscribers could continue to download until their contracts ended. The service continued to be offered until 2014 in China, India, Indonesia, Brazil, Turkey and South Africa where take-up was better.[37]

Nokia Music launched for the first time on the Windows Phone platform with the Lumia 710 and Lumia 800 on 26 October 2011 in London.[36]

2012-2013

[edit]

With the launch of Windows Phone 8 in late 2012, Nokia Music came to the platform with an app optimised for the new operating system from Microsoft. In the following months, Nokia Music was released to the Windows Store on Windows 8 and Windows RT.

Nokia Music launched in the U.S. market on 15 September 2012 with a performance at Irving Plaza by Green Day. Fans were treated to a special performance from the band, along with heavy social media involvement by AT&T, Nokia, the band themselves and Warner Bros.[38]

On 20 November 2013 Nokia renamed the service to "Nokia MixRadio". This change also made its way to the Windows 8 and Windows RT app stores[39] The following day, Nokia MixRadio made its official global launch with a special event in New York City where Nile Rodgers played.[40]

2014-2016

[edit]

Nokia MixRadio began the year with the launch of the MixRadio app for the Nokia Asha and Nokia X platforms at GSMA Mobile World Congress in February 2014.[41]

The service was again renamed to only "MixRadio" on 1 July 2014, to reflect the change of ownership from Nokia to Microsoft. On 11 September 2014, the MixRadio application was announced for the Sonos range of wireless speakers with a companion app.[42] MixRadio further extended their reach on 27 November 2014, with the application being added to the adidas miCoach Smart Run touchscreen watch.[43]

On 18 December 2014, after mulling a spin-off of the service, Microsoft announced that it would sell MixRadio to Line Corporation, a subsidiary of Naver Corporation, for an undisclosed amount.[44][45]

On 17 March 2015, the transaction was completed.[46] At this time, beta versions of the app were released for Android and iOS.[47][48]

On 19 May 2015 MixRadio announced the launch of the commercial iOS and Android apps with simultaneous launch events in New York City and Singapore.[49] MixRadio also announced their partnership with HTC at this event to integrate MixRadio into the BlinkFeed software of HTC smartphones.[50] The HTC BlinkFeed integration with MixRadio went live on 9 June 2015.[51]

During the third quarter of 2015, MixRadio further expanded its reach to other platforms, namely Apple Watch, Amazon Appstore and Tizen. In the first week of November 2015, MixRadio launched as a fully featured web browser client for the Windows and OS X operating systems, mirroring the look and functionality of its smartphone apps.[52] Starting in late September 2015, MixRadio was made available to download through the Amazon Appstore (and consequently BlackBerry devices).[53] The app was also preinstalled on the Samsung Z3, a smartphone running the Tizen operating system.[54]

Discontinuation

[edit]

On 16 February 2016, Line announced that MixRadio would be discontinued, citing "a careful assessment of the subsidiary's overall performance" and "the financial challenges posed by the music streaming market".[3] MixRadio was officially closed on 21 March 2016.[55][56]

Features

[edit]

Catalogue

[edit]

As of June 2015, MixRadio had licensed a collection of over 36 million music tracks. These tracks were collated from major, major independent and local music labels.[57]

Mixes

[edit]

MixRadio operated on the premise of playlists, named "mixes". Upon loading the app for the first time, the user was prompted to select some of their favourite genres, which will then ask for favourite artists that the user can choose. This was then designated the user's "My mix". Users were also able to select pre-made mixes by theme or genre, (for example 'Top 40 Australian charts' or 'Rock workout') or create their own mix purely on the selection of artists.[58]

Optimised mixes

[edit]

Users of MixRadio were able to like ('heart') or dislike ('broken heart)' a song as it is played, upon which these personal listening tastes are saved and new songs based on the users' preferences are played next in the mix. MixRadio possessed a team of staff that personally curated mixes tailored to the data collected around listeners' tastes and habits.[58]

Offline mixes

[edit]

A big premise of MixRadio was its ability to download mixes offline. This enabled users to listen to their favourite mixes when not in range of a WiFi or mobile data connection.

Unlimited downloads

[edit]

In India, MixRadio was available for all Nokia Asha, Lumia and Nokia X phones. Users could download songs from MixRadio for free for the first three months after purchase of a Nokia Asha, Lumia or X-series phone, following which the subscription could be renewed for a fixed time period through the purchase of a voucher either online via the Oxicash Archived 28 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine website or offline through Nokia Care outlets. For Nokia Asha phones, subscription could also be renewed via carrier billing, with the supported carriers being Airtel, Vodafone and Idea. However, the vouchers were no longer issued from May 2014 and in November 2014, Microsoft announced that unlimited downloads from MixRadio will no longer be supported.[59]

MixRadio for Android and iOS public beta

[edit]

In late August 2015, MixRadio beta was opened to the general public to help test and contribute feedback regarding the app itself. The public betas were later expanded to the MixRadio client on iOS in early October 2015.

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Schofield, Jack (30 August 2007). "Nokia music library comes from OD2". The Guardian.
  2. ^ "MixRadio Launches on iOS & Android, Teams With Nile Rodgers & Charli XCX". Billboard. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Former Nokia music service MixRadio is shutting down". Engadget. 16 February 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  4. ^ "Nokia Music Store France goes live - Microsoft Devices BlogMicrosoft Devices Blog". blogs.windows.com. 23 April 2008.
  5. ^ XPRESS (30 November 2008). "Nokia Music Store goes live in UAE". Archived from the original on 15 May 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  6. ^ "Nocookies". The Australian. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
  7. ^ Troaca, Florin (22 April 2008). "Nokia Music Store Now Open in Australia". Softpedia.
  8. ^ "First Look: Nokia Music Store Launches in India". 4 July 2009.
  9. ^ "Nokia To Launch Music Store In India In Early 2009 - MediaNama". www.medianama.com. 30 October 2008.
  10. ^ "Nokia launches online music store in Kerala". 17 September 2009.
  11. ^ "nokia-pioneers-new-way-experience-music-middle-east-launch-comes-mus - Al Bawaba". www.albawaba.com. Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  12. ^ "Nokia pioneers new way to experience music in the Middle East with launch of Comes with Music". 11 February 2010.
  13. ^ "First Online Nokia Music Store in Middle East To launch in UAE". StartUpArabia. 3 October 2008.
  14. ^ "Online music dream is real". 25 November 2009.
  15. ^ "News: Jake Larsen on Nokia Music Store". Techsmart.co.za. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
  16. ^ "Nokia music hits SA". 12 March 2009.
  17. ^ "Nokia Accelerates Music Push With Services and Phones". PCWorld.
  18. ^ "Nokia Music launched in South Africa".
  19. ^ Arghire, Ionut (24 April 2009). "Nokia Music Store Gets Launched in South Africa". Softpedia.
  20. ^ "Nokia's 5800 Xpress launches in South Africa - Paul Jacobson". 8 February 2009.
  21. ^ "Nokia Music Store opens in SA". www.bizcommunity.com.
  22. ^ "Nokia Music Store live in South Africa".
  23. ^ "Nokia Music Store goes live in South Africa". Daily Mobile. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
  24. ^ "Comes With Music". 28 August 2009. Archived from the original on 18 September 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  25. ^ "Shufflegazine #19 March 2010". Scribd.
  26. ^ "News: Nokia announces Comes with Music". Techsmart.co.za. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
  27. ^ "Nokia rebranding music store - IT News Africa – Africa's Technology News Leader". www.itnewsafrica.com. 6 August 2010.
  28. ^ "Nokia 8 Android". 10 September 2010.
  29. ^ "New Launch by Nokia in Spain: The Nokia Music Store". Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  30. ^ a b "Nokia World 2007: Nokia outlines its vision of Internet evolution and commitment to environmental sustainability" (Press release). Nokia Corporation. 4 December 2007. Retrieved 14 May 2008.
  31. ^ "Nokia unveils Music Store, XpressMusic phones - (Aug 29) | MacNN". Electronista.com. 29 August 2007. Archived from the original on 9 April 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
  32. ^ "Ovi service becomes gateway to Nokia Music Store". 29 August 2007. Archived from the original on 30 October 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2009.
  33. ^ "The latest Nokia phones and accessories - Nokia Phones US". www.nokia.com.
  34. ^ "Nokia Music Store goes live in the UK - FierceWireless". Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2009.
  35. ^ [1] Archived 7 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  36. ^ a b "MixRadio Developers - MixRadio History". Archived from the original on 24 May 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  37. ^ "Nokia Retreats from Music Service". YLE. 18 January 2011. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
  38. ^ "How Green Day, Warner Bros., MAC, Nokia, AT&T Teamed Up for Social Campaign With Potential Audience of 144 Million". Billboard.
  39. ^ "Nokia MixRadio for Windows 8 Released". 20 December 2013.
  40. ^ "Nokia MixRadio Launches With Nile Rodgers". Billboard.
  41. ^ "MixRadio comes to Nokia X and Asha - Conversations: The Microsoft Devices blog". Archived from the original on 24 May 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  42. ^ "Site Maintenance in progress". sonos.custhelp.com.[permanent dead link‍]
  43. ^ "adidas miCoach SMART RUN powered by MixRadio". Tumblr. November 2014.
  44. ^ "Microsoft sells its MixRadio music service to Line". The Verge. 18 December 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  45. ^ "Nokia MixRadio leaves Microsoft to go it alone - HTXT.africa". Archived from the original on 5 August 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  46. ^ "MixRadio closes deal with LINE". MixRadioMusic.com. Archived from the original on 24 February 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  47. ^ "Beta Sign up Process – Feature suggestions & quality feedback for MixRadio". Archived from the original on 26 December 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
  48. ^ OneTechStop.net (22 May 2015). "Interview with MixRadio CEO Jyrki Rosenberg". Archived from the original on 21 December 2021 – via YouTube.
  49. ^ "All that matters" (PDF). www.allthatmatters.asia. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 June 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  50. ^ "MixRadio Launches on iOS & Android, Teams With Nile Rodgers & Charli XCX". Billboard.
  51. ^ Paul Tutton [@tuttonp] (9 June 2015). "@AdrianGHughes Try it now ;) We are rolling to a small country set to start, so you might not see it unless you choose UK for example" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  52. ^ "MixRadio". Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  53. ^ "Amazon.com: MixRadio Music: Appstore for Android". Amazon. Archived from the original on 2 February 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  54. ^ "Samsung launches the Tizen-powered Z3 in India with MixRadio pre-loaded". 14 October 2015.
  55. ^ "We are very sorry to say that MixRadio has closed". Facebook. 22 March 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  56. ^ Dredge, Stuart (18 July 2014). "Nokia MixRadio spins out of Microsoft as standalone streaming music service". The Guardian.
  57. ^ "(English Translation) #MixRadio interview May 2015, Singapore (Launch of iOS and Android MixRadio apps) | Lumia Journeys". Archived from the original on 16 June 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  58. ^ a b "MixRadio". www.mixradiomusic.com. Archived from the original on 14 June 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  59. ^ "You can no longer renew MixRadio Unlimited music download subscriptions in India". 25 November 2014.
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