The US is the world’s largest retail market for music. However, it lags behind parts of Europe for mobile infrastructure, a justification for Germany’s more advanced mobile music market.
The joint venture service from Sky and Universal Music to enable consumers to stream music on-demand or download onto MP3-playing devices, including mobile phones and iPods, shows that European companies are looking to meet consumer demand for online and mobile music.
"Given consumers’ reluctance to pay for music on their phones, marketers are finding new opportunities to partner directly with carriers, labels and even music artists themselves," says John du Pre Gauntt, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report, "Mobile Music: Ads to the Rescue." "Direct deals between brands and bands are no longer anomalies, but are part of a growing trend by both parties to bypass intermediaries and go directly to customers."
"Mobile works better as a marketing and customer relationship platform than it does as a retail sales platform," Mr. Gauntt says. "Bands and artists are increasingly using mobile to form direct relationships with their fans, which are then monetized through other means, such as tickets to live shows, merchandise and fan clubs."
Marketers will account for a greater proportion of that overall spending as the ad-supported model for mobile music gathers steam.
