[gorilla]

I'm surpirsed 3GSU didn't pick up on this yesterday. It's quite an interesting article really and shows that the mobile music download market is really starting to take off.

Taken from the Sunday Times: (http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9075-2179163.html)
"CUSTOMERS of mobile-phone firm 3 bought more than 1m songs and music videos last month, making it the second-biggest source of digital downloads after Apple’s iTunes stores, writes Paul Durman.
The company believes the 1m-a-month milestone is an indicator of the potential for “third generation” mobile services. It claims that in April it took 17% of the UK market for digital music, already the biggest and most advanced in Europe.

In another sign of 3’s confidence, the company is to strengthen its retail distribution by opening 60 of its own shops and by taking sites in about 300 Superdrug stores.

It already sells its phones from 136 Superdrug stores — both companies are owned by Hutchison Whampoa, the Hong Kong-based group. Superdrug is to invest £22m to improve the phone counters, making them more appealing to women.

Although Vodafone and Orange also sell song downloads, 3 is responsible for more than three-quarters of the digital music bought over a mobile phone, according to the Official Charts Company. Including iTunes and other online music stores, 4.15m songs were bought digitally in April."

I must admit I used my £5 to download tracks.

[Ben]

Three's music download service is currently the most advanced/forgiving, so they are worthy of their success in this area. However, I'd imagine most subscribers buy these tracks with their inclusive allowance rather than spending extra cash on them.

[3GScottishUser]

Three's music download service is currently the most advanced/forgiving, so they are worthy of their success in this area. However, I'd imagine most subscribers buy these tracks with their inclusive allowance rather than spending extra cash on them.

Therein lies the true problem. H3G UK basically include downloads for free in most of their contracts so its hardly surprising folks are using them to get music etc. Does this prove that people are prepared to pay for this type of service? It's all a bit questionable when many are getting free handsets and are paying rates that are far less than the cost to service the customers because of promotions and cashbacks. Can mobile companies really provide lots of voice minutes, SMS, MMS and free audio and video for around £20 a month and bear the cost of the handset provision and the dealer commissions etc?

I think 3 have done a great job as far as awareness is concerned but just how realistic this approach is and whether they will ever be able to convince customers to pay a realistic rate to get downloaded materials is a very different matter.

[Hands0n]

I think 3 have done a great job as far as awareness is concerned but just how realistic this approach is and whether they will ever be able to convince customers to pay a realistic rate to get downloaded materials is a very different matter.

That is the rub, "realistic rate" whatever the heck that is! Using inclusive download units is an acceptable means of getting the punter to sample the facility and get a few favourite tracks each month. But I, for one, am put off by the current charges and the attendant issues with DRM protected content (any serious prob with your handset and you could lose your content already paid for with no means of getting it back unless paid for again). That said, there is a massive market for DRM content on PCs so why shouldn't that carry across to the mobile phone handset?

I personally think that the cost of such content is too high and should be a fraction of what it is to stimulate massive-scale uptake.