Nokia Launches MixRadio With Play Me - the World's Simplest Music Service

New global service offers personalised radio station with one touch

NEW YORK, Nov. 21, 2013 /CNW/ - Nokia today launched Nokia MixRadio with Play Me in 31 countries around the World. The free music streaming service learns from listening habits to deliver people a personalised radio station, at the single touch of a button.

Nokia MixRadio builds on the acclaimed Nokia Music streaming service launched in 2011 to streamline the experience of discovering music on the go. It takes people straight to the music with a new 'Play Me' button, which delivers a personalized radio station that is unique to every user.

Nokia MixRadio encourages user personalization with simple 'thumbs up', 'thumbs down' and artist 'favourite' features that hone the music selections it delivers. The service also offers hundreds of expert and celebrity curated mixes free of adverts, sign ups or subscriptions. Mixes can be saved for offline listening during times without signal such as underground travel, as well as reducing data use and costs.

Jyrki Rosenberg, VP and Head of Nokia Entertainment, said: "Today we are making our mission clear, to provide the most simple, personal radio streaming service available. Nokia MixRadio marries simplicity with an incredible level of personalization, for a mobile first approach that will help everybody, not just the avid music fan, enjoy and discover new music for free."

He adds "It's as easy as turning on the radio, but you're in control - just one touch of Play Me provides people with their own personal radio station, free of adverts, sign ups and sign-ins. You can even skip songs you don't like, as well as build your station around your likes and dislikes with the unique thumbs up and down feature."

Music legend and producer behind Chic and Daft Punk's global hit Get Lucky, Nile Rodgers, joined Nokia MixRadio for the launch event in New York, where he announced a series of exclusive mixes he has created and shared through the new MixSharing feature. It allows people to share three full tracks of a mix with their friends through social media or SMS, which can be listened to online at http://www.mixrad.io, free of charge.

Nile said of the service: "Radio has always been the way most people discover new music, but the format hasn't really changed since the 50's. I love MixRadio because it's radio for the digital generation, simple, immediate and unique. And the MixSharing feature means people can create and transmit their own radio station! More people discovering great music is always a good thing."

Nokia MixRadio with Play Me is now available to Nokia Lumia owners in 31 countries, making it the most global personalized streaming service in the world. Featuring a new logo and look for the service, it can be downloaded today at http://www.windowsphone.com/store

Notes to editors

• Personalization is delivered by capturing and understanding the listeners' habits and building a profile of their taste. A taste profile is built using a weighted list of artists, informed by every action the user makes including number of listens to an artist, skips, and acknowledging those that have been made a 'favourites'. The service also scans local and desktop music selections, and looking at purchased tracks. When a user hits PlayMe, this activates the sending of five seed tracks, selected using the profile the service has built, to our partner EchoNest. They then create a dynamic mix from a catalogue of 26 million global tracks.
• Nokia Mix Radio is available in Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, UK and US
• "Nokia Music" will now adopt "Nokia MixRadio" as the overall name of Nokia's music offering. The launch of "Nokia MixRadio" will be accompanied by a new logo and brand identity.

About Nokia

Nokia is a global leader in mobile communications whose products have become an integral part of the lives of people around the world. Every day, more than 1.3 billion people use their Nokia to capture and share experiences, access information, find their way or simply to speak to one another. Nokia's technological and design innovations have made its brand one of the most recognized in the world. For more information, visit http://www.nokia.com/about-nokia.

About Nokia MixRadio

Nokia MixRadio delivers consumers their own personal radio station: unique mixes of streamed music tailored to their musical taste.  There are also thousands of curated mixes created by a team of expert musicologists from a catalogue of 26 million global and local tracks across a vast range of genres. Nokia MixRadio is completely free to use with no advertisements, requiring no sign up or subscription and gives users the option to download mixes to enjoy offline. Nokia MixRadio also offers MixSharing, the ability to share mixes through social media or by email or SMS, helping people discover and enjoy more great music.

For more information visit nokia.com/mixradio or follow #nokiamixradio

About Nile Rodgers

Nile Rodgers is a musician, songwriter and producer who founded the band CHIC. He brought the world such hits as "Dance, Dance, Dance", "Everybody Dance", "I Want Your Love", "Le Freak (Aw Freak Out!)", "Good Times", " He's The Greatest Dancer", "We Are Family", "I'm Coming Out", "Upside Down", "Like A Virgin", "Lets Dance", just to name a few.  In addition, Nile has produced some of the biggest hits in the careers of Madonna, David Bowie, Duran Duran and Diana Ross.  And this year, he co-wrote and played on the "Song of the Summer", Daft Punk's "Get Lucky", which has broken records and went to #1 in over 50 countries.

Source: Nokia

SOURCE: Nokia

Katy Hall, Tel - [phone], [email protected]