Streamed Mobile Music Services to Remain Strong As Revenues Approach $5.5bn by 2013

Despite the impact of the global recession, revenues from streamed mobile music services and full-track downloads are expected to exhibit strong growth over the next five years, according to a new report from Juniper Research.

The report found that the combined revenues from these services are expected to increase from $2.5bn in 2009 to nearly $5.5bn in 2013, driven by a array of factors including a greater variety of applications and content, all-inclusive data packages, consumer friendly UIs and an increase in handset storage capacity.

According to mobile music report author Dr Windsor Holden, “While some of the more traditional music services – most notably polyphonic ringtones and realtones – are in decline across many markets, we’re now seeing a surge in the adoption of more sophisticated offerings. Recent positive developments, such as Apple announcing that iPhone customers can use the 3G network to download full-tracks, will offer a further stimulus to growth.”

However, the Juniper report found that those music services launched using an ad-funded model face a potential shortfall in revenue followinga global reduction in advertising budgets: under the worst case scenario, it warned that adspend could reach just 50% of pre-downturn estimates.

Other findings from the report include:

• Ringback tone revenues will exceed those of ringtones by 2010 as service adoption increases outside Asia
• The Far East & China region will account for the largest share of mobile music revenues throughout the 2009-2013 forecast period, followed by Western Europe
• Aggregators must expand the depth and breadth of their portfolios beyond ringtones if they are to remain competitive

Posted to the site on 26th May 2009