Nokia is understood to be spending £10m on advertising for its Comes With Music download service.

The ads attempt to explain the service, as well as point customers to the first handset – the 5310 on prepay, which is being sold exclusively at Carphone Warehouse. The ads also point to 3, which started selling the N95 last week.

It is a relatively large sum for the manufacturer to spend. Nokia said it is one of its biggest campaigns of the year, and according to the manufacturer, the campaign involves building store footfall through ‘high-profile store events in key high streets across the UK’.

Staff at Carphone have reported a lukewarm reception from customers
so far but this has been put down to customers being unaware of the service and how it works.

Sales are also expected to increase as consumer awareness builds and people start shopping for Christmas gifts. One Carphone staffer said: ‘It has not been flying off the shelves. People look but don’t buy. It comes with loads of gifts, so maybe people are saving it for nearer Christmas.’

The Nokia 5310 on the basic £129.95 pay-as-you-go deal appears to be the most popular of the packages. Bundles are billed as silver, gold and platinum, which is relative to the amount of memory and accessories (such as headphones and speakers) included.

Staff at Carphone said: ‘People come into the store after seeing the advert but they are not asking staff about Comes With Music; it’s not getting many queries.’

Nokia recorded 150,000 downloads in the UK in the first week Comes With Music went on sale, representing a tenth of the downloads enjoyed by iTunes. The level suggests a strong start for Nokia, although iTunes charges for each individual track, rather than offering unlimited downloads.