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Mobile music revenues could top $9B in next four years

HAMPSHIRE, United Kingdom-An exploding demand for full-track downloads will help push mobile music revenues to more than $9.3 billion by 2009, according to a new report from Juniper Research.

According to the study, ringtones and master tones will continue to represent the bulk of mobile music purchases, ringing up $4.8 billion by 2009. But full-track download sales will see the most dramatic surge, up from just $20 million in 2004 to $1.8 billion within five years.

Ring-back tone revenues will also continue to increase, reaching $2.7 billion by 2009. Europe is expected to lead overall revenue growth in the short term, while Asia-Pacific sales will lead the way by 2007.

“Last year, we saw the major network operators and players taking the first tentative steps towards the mass distribution of master recordings via mobile handsets,” said Dr. Windsor Holden, who authored the report. “This year, the operators are substantially increasing their catalogs as more labels come onboard, while the vendors are producing more handsets with integrated music players.”

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