Wednesday, 23 August 2006

Streaming Music Tops Video and MP3 Files

Mobile users continue to prefer streaming music services over mobile video and music multimedia services from wireless carriers, finds In-Stat. The survey finds that in spite of the increasing consumer interest in mobile video, it is not able to catch up as quickly as interest in mobile music.

According to the three years survey of In-Stat, in 2006 14.2 percent of respondents could be considered likely adopters of mobile video.

Streaming music offers many marketing benefits because it is most like familiar and successful mobile consumer services, the In-Stat says. One plus for carriers is that streaming is not subject to the same Digital Rights Management issues involved with music file sharing.

"Streaming music, which could be marketed like satellite radio services, such as XM and Sirius, holds the most interest of all mobile multimedia for consumers, and it may be easier to deliver than video," says David Chamberlain, In-Stat analyst.

In-Stat forecasts that revenue from mobile video for entertainment purposes could grow to over USD 6 billion per year by 2011. In the In-Stat mobile multimedia consumer survey, 44% of respondents who own music-playing handsets have not added any music files to their phones.