Digital Lifescapes

Recorded music is the most mature segment of mobile entertainment. Given the current spread across competing platforms, it's clear that online digital distribution is now the core of that industry. And, when offered a choice, fewer people will opt to own copies of music recordings. According to the latest market study by Juniper Research, revenue generated through advertising-based online music streaming is now forecast to exceed $1 Billion by 2017 -- that's up from $782 Million in 2015. However, the key music industry leaders are now attempting to slow this transition and exclude full-featured freemium services, with current offerings instead being restricted to basic 'radio' style features. Regardless, ad-based revenues are still expected to see strong growth as more people migrate to music streaming services, including some evolving offerings such as Google Play Music. The Juniper study found that while ad-based freemium services will continue to entice a ...

Historically, the Grammys event is an annual celebration of songwriter and performing artist accomplishments during the course of the year. It's not usually an event where copyright reform becomes the focal point, or where honorees air their concerns about the state of the music industry. But times have changed. The transition to digital content production and online streaming distribution has disrupted various parts of the entertainment sector -- with the overall recorded music market still adapting to the big changes that have impacted the prior status-quo. The consumption of music on mobile devices is the key trend to watch. It's a huge market. Strategy Analytics says that the total global mobile music market value will grow from $12.8 billion in 2014 to reach $21.3 billion by 2021. New growth will be driven by the combined effect of the dominance of mobile music streaming -- both paid subscription and ad-funded free listening -- in all markets, the transition from phy...

Once again, the balance of power has shifted within the mobile ecosystem marketplace. In the second quarter (Q2) of 2011, Google Android overtook Apple iOS to become the market share leader in mobile application (app) downloads. According to the latest market study by ABI Research , the market shares of Android and iOS were 44 percent and 31 percent, respectively. “Android’s open source strategy is the main factor for its success,” says Lim Shiyang, research associate at ABI Research. Being a free and open platform has expanded the Android device install base, which in turn has driven growth in the number of third-party multiplatform and mobile operator app stores. These conditions alone explain why Android is the new leader in the mobile application market. Recent quarterly shipment growth figures also explain Android’s ascent to the top app download position. Apple iPhone shipment growth in Q2 2011 slowed to 9 percent -- from 15 percent a quarter earlier. In contrast...

The U.S. recorded music industry has been challenged. Traditional media companies were slow to embrace the online distribution of digital music. They ignored consumer needs, until CD sales went into a rapid decline -- due partly to P2P file sharing activity. Having moved beyond their prior denial, regarding the shift in market demand, big-media record labels are still attempting to recover from their self-inflicted downturns in revenue and profit. eMarketer forecasts that U.S. consumer spending on digital music will increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.04 percent in the next four years, reaching $4.56 billion in 2013, up from $3 billion in 2009. All of this new growth will come from the online segment -- which comprises track downloads, full album downloads, music videos, digital kiosks and subscription services. "eMarketer expects the tipping point between physical and digital formats to occur sometime in 2010," said Paul Verna, senior analyst and author o...