September 19, 2005
Will the Music Cellphones Sweeping Japan Play in the U.S.?
Japan's successful music-cellphone formula may not be a hit in the U.S. due to a variety of factors, including cheaper American music downloads and more advanced Japanese cellular networks, reports the WSJ, in article which compares the two markets.
"The revenue from the music sold over mobile phones -- from simple ringtones to full songs -- accounts for about 20% of Japan's total music market, says consulting firm Bain & Co. Though full-song cellular downloads started here less than a year ago, analysts estimate that revenue from them will hit $449 million in 2005.
The cellphone-music market in Japan has already surpassed the market for music downloaded using a PC, which is often for later use on a digital music player. In the first six months of 2005, total revenue from PC-based music downloading was just $4.8 million, compared with $122.1 million for music -- not including ringtones -- downloaded to cellphones, according to the Recording Industry Association of Japan.
... In the U.S., cellphones that play music have been available since the beginning of the year, but cellular carriers aren't selling the songs. The handsets with music players offered by Sprint Nextel Corp. and Verizon Wireless let cellphone users download music files from their computers to their phones, which means the music comes from their own collections as well as online music stores. That's also the case with the new Rokr phone from Motorola Inc., Apple and Cingular Wireless, which is tied to Apple's iTunes music program.
Both Sprint and Verizon Wireless have announced they will launch full-track, over-the-air music downloading services by the end of this year and early next year, respectively."
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