Americans, it seems, don’t particularly want music on their mobile phones. At least, that’s the conclusion of a new report by Forrester Research.
It found that only 10% of American adults listen to music on their phones once a month. By comparison, in the UK that figure is 27%, and 70% in China, where handsets and music go together well.
So what are the reasons behind this American rejection? Several, the report concludes. Americans tend to be less savvy when it comes to the capabilities of their handsets, the mobile music options aren’t as wide or as cheap, and also, outside the US fewer people have dedicated portable music players, relying instead on their phones as an entertainment hub.
In fact, 60% of respondents said they had no interest in buying music for their phones, which could come as a blow to Nokia, which is introducing its Comes With Music service, which is already popular in many countries.
Although multimedia is entering the US phone market finally, and is expected to grow, Forrester’s estimate for the mobile music market is just $263 million by 2013 – a pleasant figure, but not earth-shattering. There are mobile music streaming services, but as yet they haven’t gained a great deal of traction.
