MusicStation Max offers unlimited free music downloads to your mobile

After the QTrax debacle, we were a little wary when we started hearing rumbles about a similar service from OmniFone called MusicStation Max that promised, flat-fee, unlimited downloads from all the major labels to your cellphone with no expiration dates -- but color us surprised, it's for real. OmniFone's MusicStation is already a player in the European mobile music game, partnered with giants like Vodafone, and the MusicStation Max launch seems like a natural evolution in the vein of Nokia's Comes With Music program: consumers will buy a pre-licensed MSM phone -- the first will be available from LG in a few months -- and be able to download away for 12 to 18 months, with the ability to sideload back to a computer or to other licensed phones. The exciting part, of course, is that unlike almost every other subscription program on the market your music will still play when the license expires. Add to that the fact that everything from the tracks to playlists to friend recommendations will be backed up on the network in case you lose your device, and we're definitely intrigued -- but we'll wait to see how well all this DRM actually works before we call this thing a winner.

[John @ Feb 11th 2008 7:50PM]

Do you mean you'll call it a winner if the DRM works and no one uses it, or if the DRM gets broken and everyone uses it?

[Fernando @ Feb 11th 2008 8:59PM]

Fanboyism! Nokia's Comes With Music works the same way and even so Engadget went through the trouble of making another post just to diss the DRM!

[Flashpoint @ Feb 11th 2008 10:07PM]

I already have a foolproof method for UNLIMITED, FREE Music Downloads to my phone

Step #1 buy a laptop with wifi.

Step #2 find a spot with minimal security cameras that allows you to connect to Limewire or Frostwire

Step #3 Download songs

Step #4 transfer songs from laptop to phone.

[Joshua Walters @ Feb 11th 2008 10:08PM]

I cant see how the RIAA would allow something like this.

[Johan S @ Feb 11th 2008 10:19PM]

If the system has DRM, then it sucks.

Though it's true that VHS had macrovision and that sucked, music has never placed technological restrictions on copying until they started selling music online in the last decade or so.

As others have said, people were able to copy music and CD's onto cassette tapes, yet no musicians suffered. Why would it be any different now?

Why can't the music industry trust most of us?

[Juaquin @ Feb 12th 2008 1:00AM]

DRM of any sort is never a winner.

[Jarumi @ Feb 12th 2008 1:12AM]

DRM is from Satan, AKA RIAA

[SteveS @ Feb 12th 2008 10:03AM]

Oh, and it's not like a bad thing either, it just means people who like nokia phones can get the service and the phone they want, and people who like other brands can get the service they want, with their brands. it's the way it should be wouldn't you think?

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