Nokia MixRadio Planning Spinoff From Microsoft

In the internal memo which confirmed that Microsoft is killing Nokia’s feature phone business the company also confirmed that its done with MixRadio, Nokia’s music streaming service. The memo mentioned that there has been interest from third-parties who want to take MixRadio off its hands. The service’s chief Jyrki Rosenberg tells the Guardian that they’re planning a spinoff from Microsoft and while MixRadio will continue to be pre-loaded on Windows Phone, they will look towards platforms like iOS and Android as well.

Rosenberg says that he has seen “very strong interest” from potential investors in the U.S., Europe and Asia adding that the team remains open for further discussions.

MixRadio first came on the scene back in 2011. It was called Nokia Music back then and the app came pre-loaded on Nokia’s first Windows Phone devices. Its different from other music streaming service because instead of offering on-demand music it offers a collection of themed playlists which is curated by a team.

Nokia never charged for the basic service instead it viewed it as a selling point for Lumia smartphones.  Now that the service is free to go in a completely different direction, perhaps it might start charging users given that it can now reach millions of potential subscribers on rival platforms.

Microsoft recently announced its biggest round of job cuts as well as the closure of its Xbox Entertainment Studios. Over 12,500 jobs are being cut from the Nokia devices and services team alone. The company is now embarking on a strategy of working with various external partners instead of providing every single service on its own.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Audio
Tags: Nokia