Subscriptions, Downloads Driving Mobile Music Sales to $17.5b by 2012

The global market for mobile music will surpass $17.5 billion by 2012, according to a report from Juniper Research. Subscription services and full-track downloads will drive the growth.

A Cellular-news story about the report notes that Juniper believes that the music ringtone market may have already peaked in some developed markets and that the current pricing structure can’t be sustained. This is particularly true now that it’s possible to get a full song track for much less than the cost of a 30-seecond ringtone.

Juniper forecasts that ringtones will make up only 38% of mobile music sales by 2012, down from 62% last year.

“I think it’s fair to say that 2007 marked the tipping point as far as mobile music adoption was concerned,” report author Windsor Holden said in a canned statement. “Far more subscribers began downloading and subscribing to music content in developed markets, and it must be said that the publicity surrounding the iPhone launch undoubtedly contributed to consumer awareness of mobile music services.”

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