Ever feel like you’re drowning in a tsunami of new music? Well, now it’s time to turn on, tune in and rock out—all with the help of your Nokia smartphone! Nokia Music is an interactive, intuitive and, most importantly, free service with more than 24 million tracks for Nokia Lumia and Asha customers; it’s there to help you keep abreast of the ever-expanding and always exciting world of up-and-coming (and classic!) tunes. With turntables of fresh tracks at your fingertips, you’ll soon be able to give the professional DJs a run for their money…
Makes you a mix master
The killer attraction has to be Nokia Mix Radio—a smartphone music streaming service that offers you access to millions of songs without having to sign up, sign in, or listen to endless, disruptive adverts between tracks. When you click through to Mix Radio, just select your preferred genre—indie, jazz, country, spoken-word comedy, chart, rock, just to name a few—and you get to listen to a free mix-tape that’s been especially compiled for Nokia listeners.
Keeps on discovering
Bristol Musicologists Jethro Borthwick, Mark Lampo and Nick Pointon are the brains behind most of the mixes, and these data-crunching genuises, and their support team, are keen to make sure Nokia customers get a satisfying musical experience that’s both global and locally oriented, with artists and tracks sourced from all around the world. The mixes are continually updated, and they’re a great way to discover new music.
Fires your creativity
If you want a slightly more personalised experience, you can Create a Mix by selecting three artists and letting the virtual DJ tailor a totally new playlist based on those choices. And if you like what you hear, you can download up to four mixes at a time to your handset to listen to offline any time you like, so you don’t have to worry about WiFi connections and data allowances—and none of it will cost you a penny!
Puts you in store for more
There’s a regular music Store, too, of course, in case you fall in love with the latest chart-topper and want to feast your ears on more; simply click through and use your Nokia account to purchase individual tracks or the whole album. While you’re in the Store, you can play samples from any song, and meanwhile take note of all the quick info you’ll need to show off your advanced musical knowledge (artist, genre, label and release date).
Tells you all you need to know
Click on the artist’s name, and you’ll get a flood of useful trivia: not only convenient lists of all their albums, singles, most popular tracks and related artists, but a bio and image gallery as well, courtesy of Wikipedia, not to mention a handy Artist Mix, plus a list telling you which Mix Radio playlists that currently feature that artist. Back to the tune you’re actually listening to, though: scroll right and you get another list—this time, other music recommended to you based on the tune you’ve navigated from. Talk about comprehensive…
Gets you to gigs
So, now you’ve heard the single and downloaded the album—but no respectable music junkie would call themselves a true fan unless they’ve seen the band live. Not a problem: with Nokia Music’s Gig Finder, your smartphone can search for local live music listings based on your GPS location. Once you’ve found a kick-ass concert, you can pinpoint the venue using HERE Maps, get directions, buy tickets, check out what else is happening at that venue, and, in case this gig has sold out, you can see where else that band or act is playing. Phew! A one-stop-shop for gig-goers.
Gives you something extra special
Finally, if that isn’t all enough, for a teeny monthly subscription fee (€3.99/$3.99), you can access Nokia Music+, which is an enhanced version of all the above. It lets you skip unlimited tracks in the Mixes (as opposed to the free version’s six skips an hour), download as many Mixes as you can fit on your phone, listen at a higher quality, and see the lyrics to your favourite songs, karaoke-style, on your smartphone’s screen.
With all this combined, you’ll be a new music maestro before you can say top tune. And if you’ve already been using these brilliant features, we’d love to hear what new music gems you’ve unearthed so far.
Image credit: Ian Ransley