Putting The Mobile Music Pieces In Place

This is a very good, in-depth look at the state of the global mobile music marketplace. Digital music generated $1.1 billion in 2005, with 40% of that coming from mobile. Another prediction is that Asian mobile music will be a $1 billion business by 2010. The pros are all there, but there are some well known cons as well.
“The catch is that while demand for digital music is skyrocketing, the business case is still rickety for mobile operators, as well as other service providers that want to offer music download services. Few doubt that there’s money to be made from mobile music services. What’s less certain is how big everyone’s slice of the pie will be, and how the music labels can balance consumer demand with copyright controls that may not always work in the consumers’ interests.”
Motorola’s experience in China is cited as an example, as is the 17 licensing agencies in Europe that have to be dealt with to offer mobile music services.
Then there’s the plans by the music industry for promoting mobile music, and justifying the higher cost.
“One of the big questions now is, how does the handset become the album experience of 30 years ago?” says Chris White, senior director of global product marketing, music, mobile devices business at Motorola. “Things like rich content, artwork, info on the songs, lyric sheets – we can bring that to the mobile device. We’d like to work with the music labels to learn how to bundle that kind of content, because the download is going to be a complete experience, not just a 99 cent song.”

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