Sunday, November 11, 2007

Labels Bank on Mobile Downloads

From Katie Allen, Guardian Unlimited:

Media record groups are saying the new services will turn the tide of falling sales.

Record labels are predicting that this month's launch of three new mobile phone music services will usher a return of rising sales after years of decline.

Apple's music-playing iPhone grabbed the headlines with its arrival in Britain last week. But music executives are just as excited about the new unlimited downloads service launched on Vodafone. At the same time Nokia, the world's largest maker of mobile phones, has opened a digital music store here.

Some industry insiders are predicting a revolution that will see mobile downloading approaching that of highly developed markets such as Japan.

The world's biggest music company, Universal, is backing the MusicStation, the Vodafone service. Rob Wells, head of digital at Universal's international division, predicts the £1.99-a-week subscription service will have mass market appeal. "We are at a turning point in the UK," he says, predicting digital music sales here could offset falling CD sales within a year.

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