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Current and future trends in mobile music beyond the iPod took centre-stage at this Interactive @ In The City session on 30 September 2005. New routes to market, and the role of network operators, brands and grassroots communities surfaced in the debate, reports Deirdre Molloy...

Current and future trends in mobile music beyond the iPod took centre-stage in this session of In The City’s interactive strand - in association with NMK - on 30th September 2005 in Manchester. New routes to market, and the role of network operators, brands and grassroots communities in supporting new music surfaced in the debate...

Report by Deirdre Molloy

[Register and post your own comments on this article below...]

In the brief round of introductions, Leigh Turnbull of online entertainment PR company Way To Blue mentioned that they’ve had a mobile department since January 2005. Susie from Filter flagged up their new “bluecasting” service, whereby digital information is sent to mobile from Hinchcliffe stationary objects via Bluetooth. Danny Van Emden highlighted how EMI are using communities to drive sales, while chair Steve Mayall of MusicAlly speculated, are the billions forecasted for mobile music revenue just hype?

Danny asserted the “ubiquity of mobile as a fab device for extending mobile marketing. You get lapsed consumers back in the loop”, she explained, “and bring in the young consumers buying their first iPod”, adding that the last 18 months have been very good for fixed line revenue in this regard.

New retailers and distributors in the mix...

Europe is a balancing act between mobile-crazy Asia and fixed-line-centric US, Danny commented. So does that make Europe a better breeding ground for interesting business models, she wondered.

Andy Baker of DX3 said that £720 million was spent on mobile content last year (2004). But Steve Mayall added that the next problem is whether mobile phone operators should be music retailers. In Danny’s view, it’s up to the brands to make sure that what they’re offering is value for money and transparent.

Eighty percent of mobile commerce is off-portal already, noted Andy, and Suzie added that, in addition to bluecasting, Filter are looking at iBillboards, and kiosks which work like a jukebox on the street – you key in a pin number and get tracks pinged to your mobile.

Can mobile networks support new music as well as their profits?

Leigh argued that clips and trailers should be free – why should you pay to be marketed to? The operators wants to monetise anything and everything, but will they ever loosen up over free samples, she wondered. Andy explained that DX3 are working with a big retailer on a scheme whereby content will be pre-wrapped around a pre-pay phone to get people used to it, so that they will the buy better phones and then buy more content.

Is it going to be MTV, or Starwars, Steve asked the panel. And what about the handset manufacturers? People don’t buy from Nokia, they buy from Orange or Vodaphone, not Apple or Motorola. The networks want us to download because that’s their market, so are the networks dictating what consumers are doing?

Danny said the networks need to work more with the music industry and brands. Steve noted that South Korea Telecom have bought a majority share in the country’s biggest record label. Another Korean network has bought a film studio.

Watch out for wifi and VOIP...

Adding to the flux of new trends, said Andy Baker, is wifi (with its associated peer-to-peer potential) and VOIP in the from of Skype, and there’s a lot of revenue retention issues to deal with in regard to these new technologies.

What will supersede ringtones, Steve asked the panel. Danny reckoned mobile video and full-track downloads, Andy said videotones, and Danny then added mobile events and community broadcasts.

Creating connections – direct and grassroots

Susie commented that the channel is also a creative and a medium in its own right, at which point Steve asked “what about the artists, do they care about mobile?” Danny said yes, they did, and Steve then asked does this add anything to the value of music? Danny responded that bands and consumers can now blog and vlog direct to each other while on the move.

The internet was supposed to democratise everything and be the death of record labels, so, Steve mused, are we anywhere near that happening? Danny responded that mobile is great for forming and supporting communities. From the audience Paul Bay commented that network operators are there to make money, not to bring new bands to the public. He was excited about how phones can support artists from grassroots communities, not via brands. Also, he added, there are other brands out there that could support new music, and that are eager to do so.

Distintermediation - steppingstone to success?

Ted Cohen, EMI Global Director of Digital was also in the audience and he raised the scenario of super-distribution [aka the online DIY model seen most starkly in unsigned bands successes via MySpace], and the viral effect. This has great potential for the little bands, he stressed, showing that there are other ways into the music business network.

Another delegate asked if the music industry or in fact the games industry (with its colossal use of music) would be the winner in the digital music arena. Mike Butcher of MusicBites.com said he wanted Apple to bring out a mobile phone, they’re a hardware vendor and iTunes is just a loss leader for them to sell more iPods. Steve Mayall said, in closing, that Apple wanted to do just that, but the R&D costs involved mean that they’ll probably just brand some other manufacturer’s model (as they have since done with the Motorola Rokr).

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See the original EVENT PAGE

About the Panelists:

Chair: Steve Mayall - Mobile music analyst, MusicAlly

Danny Van Emden - Digital Media Director, EMI Music UK

Leigh Turnbull - Senior Publicist, WayToBlue

Susie Hinchliffe - Head Of Content, Filter

Andy Baker - CEO of DX3 and steering committee member for NMK's June 2006 conference Content 2.0

Interactive @ In the City 2005 Panels:
NMK ran the Interactive panels at In the City in Manchester on 30th September 2005. The other Interactive panel reports are here:
The Digital High Street - 30th September 2005
Tomorrow's People - 30th September 2005
Creativity & A&R In The Digital Age - 30 September 2005

For more information about In the City's annual music conference and convention, visit the In The City website