The move is the latest step in the music industry’s mission to re-invent itself in the wake of the digital revolution. And the repercussions of Universal’s deal last week could affect any business connected to issues of intellectual property rights.

Full details of the scheme are yet to be disclosed, but Universal Music has said that it will allow users to keep tracks even after the subscription period.

“There has always been reluctance on the part of consumers to sign up to subscription services because at the end they lose all the music they have built up,” said Universal Music senior vice president of digital services Rob Wells.

“The Nokia deal is a quantum leap away from the notion of ownership to the notion of access.”

Universal is not entirely on its own. But other labels, such as EMI, have focused on relaxing copyright protection ­ removing digital rights management (DRM) encoding so music files can be played on any type of device.

Universal’s strategy is a very different approach, because it will effectively kill off the company’s traditional revenue stream ­ music sales ­ in exchange for a slice of Nokia’s handset profits.

Change is unavoidable because the industry is not going to survive in its current form, said Simon Wheeler, director of digital at Beggars Record Group.

“We have to deliver more ways for people to access our music, in ways they are comfortable with, on terms that enable us to continue to invest in new artists,” he said.

The music industry has been one of the first to suffer from the growth in piracy that accompanied the development of digital media. But as bandwidth availability increases, the same issues are now affecting film and TV.

In some ways, the music business has had it easy, because the relatively small number of stakeholders has made it simpler to overcome licensing issues, said Jonathan Arber, analyst at Ovum.

“In the case of a film or TV show, where there are huge numbers of people who have a say in the rights, everything is a lot more complicated,” said Arber.

“And once you start looking at pan-European or worldwide licensing it becomes a legal nightmare, which slows the whole process down.”

Universal’s plans are an attempt to turn a profit from consumers’ digital habits. But other sectors could adopt more of a damage limitation strategy.

“The Nokia-Universal deal is a power play, but in many other areas businesses are simply trying to defend against people encroaching on their revenue,” said Arber.