Study: Users favor ad-supported mobile music over premium services

Consumers exhibit little interest in paying for mobile music services according to research conducted by market intelligence firm Strategy Analytics. Despite a recent eMarketer forecast indicating mobile music could generate revenues topping $675 million by 2014, premium mobile music services continue to struggle--Strategy Analytics contends consumers are simply unwilling to pay for mobile downloads, instead preferring to acquire most of their music via computer (legally or otherwise), then sideloading content to their mobile phone or other portable media player device.

"Participants see a la carte mobile downloads like iTunes and Amazon MP3 as a way to supplement their music collection while on the go--but will not pay a premium for such services," said Strategy Analytics vice president Kevin Nolan in a prepared statement. The firm notes ad-supported streaming services like Pandora and Slacker are more closely aligned with consumer behaviors, offering compelling channels to access and discover new music for free.

Last month, Nokia (NYSE:NOK) announced it will rebrand its Comes With Music all-you-can-eat service to fit under its Ovi multimedia umbrella. The service--which offers DRM-free MP3 files playable across PCs, Macs and personal music players--will now operate as Ovi Music. Nokia introduced Comes With Music in the U.K. market in late 2008; in the fall of 2009, digital music research firm Music Ally reported that fewer than 108,000 subscribers worldwide signed up within the program's first year.

For more on mobile music service preferences:
- read this release

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