The Hindu Business Line : Lend me your ears

Besides helping one to connect with near and dear, both at home and afar, these phones bring in little bits of sunshine and relaxation into a hectic schedule.

And the experience is getting more and more `made for you'. Favourite music tracks and songs are accessible just at the click of a button. There are headphones and external speakers for a more personalised mobile music experience. It is easy to store, transfer or stream music and, above all, not being let down on any of these accounts.

And this mobile music is all set to explode in India, ringing in big bucks for mobile phone companies, content providers, mobile operators and the record label companies.

Surveys reveal that a majority of cell-phone users buy handsets integrated with FM radio and MP3 player. This is no surprise, for most youngsters today walk around with the headphones plugged to their ear. When they are not conversing, they obviously are listening to music. Music on the move has become an integral part of the mobile users' experience.

A Gartner study has confirmed that sales of the MP3 player surged by 200 per cent to $3 billion in 2005. It is expected to touch $4.5 billion in 2006, with 30 per cent of all MP3 players (sold) having video playback capability.

Music on the go

Given the stupendous growth in this segment, handset makers strive to roll out a new model every fortnight.

Says Vineet Taneja, Director (Multimedia), Nokia India, "the N-series from the Nokia stable is the in thing today. All handsets come with one or more features like Imaging (see new), Internet (link new), Gaming (play new), Mobile TV (watch new) and Mobile Music (hear new). Music, however, has been the biggest platform. All Nokia handsets are DRM (Digital Rights Management) protected."

(DRM protection helps users purchase music in the copy protected WMA format and play it on their new N-series music edition).

Sony Ericsson is also looking at the mobile music concept very aggressively. "We aim to bring the concept of `Music on the Go' to all consumers. In fact there is overwhelming response to our Walkman phones and we are expanding the range to address all segments. These phones will revolutionise the music listening experience by redefining the way one listens to and enjoys music," says Sudhin Mathur, General Manager, Sony Ericsson India.

The complete Mobile Music Solution with desk and portable speakers from the Sony Ericsson stable, Mathur says, will complement the mobile phones to raise the bar of mobile entertainment.

Studies reveal that young, single male consumers are heavy users of digital music. Now, take a 360 degree overview of the music domain, from the point of view of the provider.

The sector is poised to become one of the biggest revenue drivers, which is evident from the adoption of MP3-enabled phones and initiatives taken by mobile phone companies to offer enhanced music experience.

Nokia alone is understood to have introduced over 20 MP3-enabled handsets. Some of the models do not even require a computer interface to download music.

Forget the `t... ring'

Statistics show that the ring tone downloads on an average exceeds 5,000 a day. Similarly, music services such as ring back tones are extremely popular among users, contributing to over 40 per cent of the operator's data revenues.

Now, just close your eyes and listen. Every second minute, you probably will hear some tune, a vague yet familiar number or your favourite tune, signalling an incoming call alert on some mobile phone in the vicinity. Most youngsters today are trying to forget Graham Bell's `t..ring' tone.

The users are also in a position to assign a tone to each caller/group. The call alert gives a fair idea of the caller's identity.

Given the massive potential of MP3-enabled mobile devices, various industry stakeholders such as OEMs, content developers and service providers are beginning to offer rich music content services, such as polyphonic or monophonic ring tones, sing tones, caller back ring tones, streaming music downloads, video tones and full song downloads, to name a few.

More and more subscribers are ready to pay Rs 30 a month for caller ring back tones with Rs 15 for initial download payment and Rs 9 for each ring tone download.

Going forward, industry stakeholders perceive that the mobile devices will provide a more effective marketing channel than the existing physical distribution of CD singles. However, innovative distribution models will be needed to boost consumer adoption.

Jingle jargon

`Ringtone' is the sound your phone makes when someone calls you.

`Monophonic Ringtone' refers to the sound of only one tone or instrument.

`Polyphonic Ringtone' is playing multiple tones or notes simultaneously, thus producing a more natural and realistic sound.

`Singtone' is a Ringtone (the incoming call alert) in the form of a song clip, for say 15 to 30 seconds duration.

`Ringback tone' is a customised audio clip that callers hear when you dial their number, instead of the usual ringing sound. (Most cell-phone operators offer this service).

`Videotone' is a video clip that plays when someone calls you (instead of the caller's number).

`Streaming music videos' is relaying clips of the song directly to the handset using CDMA technology. This obviates the need for storage space. `Full song downloads' is storing a full number in the handset downloaded directly from the Net. This is possible with EDGE and 3G technology-enabled handsets.

lnr@thehindu.co.in

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