FRAMINGHAM, Mass.-The full-track wireless music download industry in the United States will reach $1.2 billion in revenue by 2009, according to a study from research firm IDC Corp.
While the nascent industry faces a host of potential hurdles-including digital rights management issues, razor-thin sales margins and a lack of music-friendly handsets and high-speed networks-more than 50 million subscribers will be downloading entire songs to their handsets within four years, the study indicated. While operators in Asia, Europe and even Canada have launched full-track music services, U.S. carriers have yet to deploy such an offering.
“IDC believes that there is opportunity for wireless music services to include a range of bundled services designed to complement full tracks, and to deliver music to consumers however and whenever they want it,” IDC analysts Lewis Ward and David Linsalata said in a prepared statement. “Wireless devices and networks are emerging as a great new channel for the delivery not just a-la-carte tracks, but subscription-oriented packages that include radio and song identification technologies, ringtones, ringback tones, music videos, concert information alerts and more.”
