Nokia has acquired Loudeye for $60m in cash, sparking a likely consolidation in mobile and online music services, as cellular operators increasingly look to offer their own branded multimedia applications to wrest control from internet players like Google and Apple iTunes. The nascent trend is seeing various cellcos, particularly in the US, launching services that directly compete with the brands that have emerged from the PC world – Verizon Wireless’ souped-up VCast music system, for instance, or the branded mobile search and location awareness products emerging from US carriers. Against this background, Nokia could find a ready market for its Loudeye platform, as well as boosting its own multimedia devices outside the cellco channel – the company sees music devices…