HELSINKI (AFP) - - Finnish mobile phone giant Nokia said Tuesday that the Warner Music Group had agreed to join its soon-to-be launched music service programme, giving its device users access to music published by Warner.

"Warner Music Group has been a pioneer in developing new digital music business models and we are pleased to have them" on board, the head of Nokia's entertainment unit Tero Ojanperae said in a statement.

The Nokia Comes With Music programme, expected to be launched during the second half of this year, will allow Nokia customers to download unlimited music from various artists onto their mobile devices during the first year of ownership.

After a year, customers can keep the downloaded music, Nokia said.

The Warner Music Group, which is the third major label to cooperate with the new Nokia programme after Universal Music Group International and Sony BMG, counts such superstars as Bjork, Sepultura and Sean "P. Diddy" Combs among its artists.

Nokia, the world's leading mobile phone maker, said it was in discussions with a number of other labels as well.