Microsoft and Nokia, two long time rivals, are now joining hands to deliver digital music to their customers.

Nokia will work with Loudeye, an online music retailer, to retail songs to its customer base. Nokia said Loudeye offered one of the most comprehensive catalogs, hence the reason to partner with them.

In addition, Nokia will allow Microsoft’s Windows Media format to work on its smartphones, although it declined to base its smartphones on Microsoft Mobile operating system. The phones will also contain Windows Digital Rights Management to eliminate music piracy.

At a later date, both Nokia and Microsoft have plans to build a plug-in for Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) format and OMA Digital Rights Management in order broaden their base.

Separately, Nokia and Loudeye will work on somewhat of an exclusive deal by offering a "white label" store, which will allow network carriers to re-brand music for their customers. How efficient is this method? Only time will tell.

Customers will be able to play the music on both Nokia smartphones as well as their personal computers.

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