Nokia Music+ is halfway to Spotify, has 7-day free trial

Lumia owners in the UK can now get their hands on Nokia's Music+ subscription service, which aims to take some of the monthly music-subscription pie from the likes of Spotify and Rdio.

The Music+ service is available for the reasonable price of £3.99, but this is noticeably more expensive than for the rest of Europe and the US, both of which also have to pay 3.99, but in their respective currencies.

There are limitations to the service though. There's no option to search for the songs you actually want to listen to, for example, and instead you're served up suggestions based on artists you like. I found this actually works quite well when I took it for a test ride, but it'd be nice to be able to choose specific songs.

Nokia has said that Music+ will appeal to those "who care enough about music to pay something for more quality and choice, but don't want to pay €9.99 monthly."

Music+ is different Nokia Music -- which currently comes on board every Lumia phone -- in that it enables you to download as many music mixes as the phone will store. It also allows you to skip as many songs you want -- something that's heavily restricted in the free alternative. Nokia has also promised that a desktop app for the service will launch shortly. This has previously appeared in a video, which sparked rumours of a Lumia tablet running Windows 8 coming in the near future.

Audiophiles will be pleased to know that Nokia has pushed the quality of the music up six-fold when compared to the free service. Karaoke lovers have also been taken care of, with the inclusion of scrolling lyrics for most songs. With Zune Music already built into Windows Phone and Spotify's Windows Phone 8 app launching last week, it seems that the operating system is fast becoming a haven for music lovers.

This isn't the first time Nokia has attempted to make waves in the music business. In 2010 it launched Nokia Music Store's streaming service, which cost £8 per month for unlimited music streaming. It's also been offering free music streaming via Nokia Music, the successor to the 'Comes With Music' service, since the unveiling of the Lumia range.

You can enjoy a seven-day free trial of Nokia Music+ now by heading to the Nokia Music app on any Lumia device running Windows Phone 7.8 or Windows Phone 8. You'll find a Nokia Music+ option in the settings -- just click it, type in your Nokia account details and away you go.

Is the pricing of Nokia's latest service music to your ears, or is it worth the extra cash to be able to choose your own songs? Let us know in the comments below or rock on over to our Facebook page.