Friday, January 11, 2008

ARTISTS AND LABELS INVEST IN FUTURE OF MOBILE MUSIC

Immedia24 carried out a survey covering a cross section of the music industry - from artists to record labels - has shown a high level of interest in publishing music onto mobile phones. 90% said that they were offering, or intending to offer mobile downloads of music tracks.

The company launched the survey in order to understand why only some sections of the music industry were selling or distributing to mobile.

So far mobile music sales has been through operator portals in conjunction with major record labels. With a large number of artists and independent labels completing the survey (50% and 20% respectively) it is clear they are looking for a route to sell direct to their fan's mobile phones.

Companies like immedia24 allow artists and labels to deliver content directly to the mobile user, without the need to go through operator portals or the major music download site. Although this gives the artist more control and greater revenue, over 30% of respondents didn't realise that it was possible to do this.

Whilst over 70% saw it as a means to distribute tracks and videos, an equal number saw it as an important medium in which to build an artists profile.

Important factors for a mobile delivery system were the quality of service and ease of use and technical support, along with the quality of the end user experience.

Issues of concern were the download speeds available on mobile along with the return offered by Premium. One responded said 'mobile still seems a bit clunky', whilst another felt that they didn't want to 'alienate fans with spam'.

Although nearly 78% of respondents said they would use MySpace music as a sales route, over half were not aware of other mobile channels such as Numo, Kodime or Immedia24.

Significantly, over 16% said that they did not want to use MySpace as a means to sell to mobile.

Mark Brill, CEO of Ping Corporation explained: 'It's clear that many people in the music industry see mobile music as an important element in their sales and distribution. The independent labels and artists are looking to do that without having to tie into operators or major labels. It is also interesting to see importance that they also place on mobile as a means of promoting artists.' The survey was carried out online by immedia24 between May and August 2007. Of the 150 respondents, 50% were artists, 20% independent record labels and 8% from major record labels.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Immdia24 is a mobile content and billing platform developed by London-based company, Ping Corporation Ltd. The company has been developing systems for messaging to mobile and content delivery since 2003.

For more information contact: Mark Brill Pingcorp/immedia24 - mark@pingcorp.co.uk
Also published at http://www.mobilemarketingmagazine.co.uk/2007/10/survey-reveals-.html

No comments: