Growing Demand for Mobile Music to Spur Uptake of Mobile and 3G Services

Growing Demand for Mobile Music to Spur Uptake of Mobile and 3G Services

LONDON, October 4/PRNewswire/ -- Digital music- the most popular form of mobile entertainment- is set to
drive customer adoption of 3G services, with record labels, aggregators and
handset manufacturers pursuing the mobile music arena.

"Digital music is expected to fuel growth of the mobile market and
provide 3G services with much-required impetus," notes Frost & Sullivan
(http://www.mobileandwireless.frost.com) ICT Industry Manager Pranab Mookken.
"In addition, the availability of the 3G network capacity, combined with the
increasing availability of music-friendly feature phones will drive enhanced
adoption of these services."

The mobile music market is projected to exhibit substantial growth, with
key participants such as handset vendors and operators offering customers a
bundled package of both, communication and entertainment. The new mobile
music value chain represents key telcos and handset vendors, further up the
value chain, partnering with record labels in offering content. Innovations
in both, the business model and delivery mechanisms, are likely have a
favourable effect on the market.

New second-generation music-capable phones from Nokia, Sony Ericsson,
Motorola and Samsung are competing with devices such as the iPod, to be the
preferred device for portable digital music, especially since an average song
of three to four minutes can now be compressed so effectively that
transmission of the packet is fairly efficient even over slow 2.5G or GPRS
networks. Thus, from a content delivery perspective as well, mobile music
offers tremendous scope.

The impact of new and enhanced social networking tools such as blogs, RSS
feeds and even websites such as myspace and youtube will change the dynamics
of digital music, boosting the availability of a wide variety of music, and
in turn pushing consumer subscription to threshold levels rapidly. While the
market for digital audio players (DAPs) and other devices for mobile music
will continue to grow for the next three to four years, the market for
music-capable phones is expected to grow even faster.

With key participants such as handset vendors and operators offering
customers a bundled package of both, communication and entertainment, the
market is anticipated to develop and innovation will be seen as a key driving
force for mobile music. By mid 2007, marketers and advertisers are expected
to focus on promoting mobile music, once a certain subscriber threshold has
been achieved.

However, providing the consumer with the easiest and the simplest form of
access to music remains the key challenge that is likely to hamper the
increased use of mobile music services. The silo-ed approach currently
adopted by mobile operators for various services, make it impossible to offer
flexibility to consumers and encourage them to use more data services.

"Operators often compartmentalise different services and therefore, not
allow for maximum usage of any particular service, which customers might be
inclined to use," states Mr. Mookken. "The need to provide easy access to
music services with minimum handset navigation is critical to the degree of
success that the mobile music market can achieve."

Market participants will need to focus on simplifying the customers'
purchasing experience by providing simple and easy access to premium music
products, while ensuring that there are no ambiguities in the price of the
service and data transmission. Here, employing a flat or built-in rate type
of data model will be conducive to the growth of the market. It will become
essential to merge silo-ed departments within mobile operators, to provide
for flexible tariffs across these different revenues, thus allowing users to
make their choice in the selection of the service/content application.

If you are interested in a virtual brochure, which provides
manufacturers, end users, and other industry participants with an overview of
the latest analysis of Digital Music - Driving the Mobile Market in Europe,
send an e-mail to Srividhya Parthasarathy - Corporate Communications at
sparthasarathy@frost.com with your full name, company name, title, telephone
number, e-mail address, city, state, and country. We will send you the
information through email upon receipt of the above information.

Digital Music - Driving the Mobile Market in Europe is part of the Mobile
and Wireless Subscription, which also includes research in the following
markets: European mobile music markets, 2002-2011, mobile video and DVB-H
markets, 2002-2011, mobile TV In Europe, DRM and the need for
interoperability and European mobile gaming market, 2003-2012. All research
included in subscriptions provide detailed market opportunities and industry
trends that have been evaluated following extensive interviews with market
participants. Interviews with the press are available.

Frost & Sullivan, a global growth consulting company, has been partnering
with clients to support the development of innovative strategies for more
than 40 years. The company's industry expertise integrates growth consulting,
growth partnership services, and corporate management training to identify
and develop opportunities. Frost & Sullivan serves an extensive clientele
that includes Global 1000 companies, emerging companies, and the investment
community by providing comprehensive industry coverage that reflects a unique
global perspective and combines ongoing analysis of markets, technologies,
econometrics, and demographics. For more information, visit www.frost.com.

List of key industry participants: EMI, Warner Music, Universal Music,
Shazam Entertainment, Amobee, Musiwave, KPN, Orange, UK, Vodafone, 3, UK, MEF

List of keywords in this press release: Europe, digital music, 3G
services, handset manufacturer, record label, mobile music, communication and
entertainment, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Samsung, portable digital
music, iPod, 2.5G, GPRS network, MySpace, blogs, RSS feeds, digital audio
player, DAP, handset vendor, mobile operator, research, information, market,
trends, technology, service, forecast, market share

Media Contacts:
Europe:
Srividhya Parthasarathy
Corporate Communications
P: +91-44-42044668
E: sparthasarathy@frost.com

Americas:
Mireya Castilla
Corporate Communications
P: +1-210-247-3830
F: +1-210-348-1003
E: mireya.castilla@frost.com

India:
Surbhi Dedhia
Corporate Communications
P: +91-22-5001-3431
E: sdedhia@frost.com

Asia Pacific
Sarah Lourdes
Corporate Communications
P: +603-6204-5878
E: sarah.lourdes@frost.com

Australia:
Sharmin Jassal
Corporate Communications
P: +612-8247-8900
F: +612-9252-8066
E: sharmin.jassal@frost.com

Source: Frost & Sullivan

Media Contacts: Europe: Srividhya Parthasarathy, Corporate Communications, P:+91-44-42044668, E: sparthasarathy@frost.com . Americas:, Mireya Castilla, Corporate, Communications, P: +1-210-247-3830, F: +1-210-348-1003, E: mireya.castilla@frost.com. India:SurbhiDedhia, Corporate Communications, P: +91-22-5001-3431, E: sdedhia@frost.com. Asia Pacific, Sarah Lourdes, Corporate Communications, P: +603-6204-5878, E: sarah.lourdes@frost.com. Australia: Sharmin Jassal, Corporate Communications, P: +612-8247-8900, F: +612-9252-8066, E: sharmin.jassal@frost.com

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