Awareness Of Mobile Music Options Strong Among Americans

Ipsos

Recent research from global market research organization IPSOS found that 70% of American mobile phone owners are aware of full-song mobile downloading -- but only one in 20 have yet done so. In other findings:

- Four percent of American mobile phone owners aged 12 and older have downloaded full digital music songs over-the-air in the past 30 days, doubling proportions seen in 2005.

- Males are twice as likely as females to have ever downloaded full songs (6% versus 3%). Teens are the most likely to have ever done so (11%), with younger adults 18-34 being the next most likely (8% among 18-24s and 7% among 25-34s).

... mobile acquisition may represent a key opportunity for bringing these music enthusiasts back into the realm of the legitimate digital music marketplace.

- Fourteen percent of American mobile phone owners report that they have a mobile phone with full-song download and playback capability.

- When drilling down among mobile phone owners who have also downloaded digital music to their computers, the number of people with mobile music phones rises to one-third, and the number who have ever downloaded full songs more than doubles, to 10%.

- On average, these over-the-air (OTA) mobile music downloaders have approximately six tracks stored on their mobile phones, which is similar to the number of ringtones stored.

- Among those with mobile phones, 27% have downloaded ringtones and 9% have done so in the past 30 days, returning to levels experienced in early 2005 after declines in recent quarters. Five percent have downloaded ringbacks -- 3% in the past 30 days. This is a slight increase over recent quarters.

- When considering overall spending on mobile music, including ringtones, full songs and ringbacks, the average mobile music downloader spent roughly $7 in the past month. Younger OTA mobile music downloaders are likely to have spent more than older downloaders.

"In recent months we have witnessed the high-profile launch of many mobile music services, and these findings suggest that Americans are indeed aware of these new services and have also begun to experiment with them -- particularly teens and young adults," says IPSOS VP and study author MATT KLEINSCHMIT. "This is encouraging as these groups have traditionally shied away from fee-based digital music behaviors, and thus mobile acquisition may represent a key opportunity for bringing these music enthusiasts back into the realm of the legitimate digital music marketplace."

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