December 11, 2004
Cell phones answer music players' call
After e-mail, Internet access and cameras, music will likely be the next killer application for cell phones in Japan, where online distribution is yet to catch on, according to The Japan Times Online.
"While cell phones may not become an instant threat to portable music players like Apple's iPod, their sheer volume -- some 85 million in Japan -- presents a vast potential pool of portable music-playing competitors.
Late last month, the country's second-largest wireless carrier, KDDI Corp., started a music downloading service for its au brand of mobile phones. Instead of offering the usual 30-second sample, however, the Chaku-uta Full (Ring Tone Songs Full) service sends the entire tune, just as online music services do for computer users, in the widely used MP3 format.
Owners of au's three latest 3G handset models can download a full song from a list of some 10,000 titles for about 300 yen a pop.
KDDI officials said the number of daily "chaku-uta" downloads might have already surpassed that of any online music distribution service for personal computers in Japan. They refused to quote specific numbers.
Label Gate Co., one of the largest domestic online music sites for PC downloads in terms of songs available, said it sold 270,000 songs in November.
The idea for chaku-uta came from the music industry a few years ago. Back then, "chaku mero" (ring-tone melodies) were the fad as phone makers gradually tweaked their handsets so they could handle increasingly elaborate chords.
Now chaku uta services are hugely popular, with some 130 million songs downloaded so far. That's nearly as many as the 150 million Apple has sold through the iTunes Music Store as of mid-October. The store opened in April 2003.
After starting with a mere 300 songs, some 70,000 chaku uta titles are offered today, covering just about every genre of music from pop to classical.
Avex Group Holdings Inc. said there were 12.5 million chaku uta downloads during the April-September period, compared with 5 million a year earlier.
The company's offerings include Ayumi Hamasaki's hit single "Inspire," which has inspired some 660,000 downloads -- more than the 420,000 CDs that have so far been sold.
What's behind the mania?
KDDI officials said few users are actually downloading chaku uta purely for use as ring tones. Instead, many are doing so to listen to songs with classmates and colleagues.
They attribute chaku uta's success to the sheer ease with which the songs can be downloaded. Unlike portable music players, cell phones don't need personal computers to download music.
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