AS CD SALES PLUNGE, the mobile device music market soars according to a new report by research outfit Emarketer which claims that music on mobile devices will be a $7.3 billion industry by 2011.

The company's report, "Recorded Music: Digital Falls Short," predicts more doom and gloom for non-digital music sales, noting that physical CD sales are falling so fast, the report can’t even properly keep up with its previous predictions. Venturing another guess, Emarketer reckons the music industry is expected to see a $5 billion decline in total music sales over the next three years, going down from $31.8 billion to $26.2 billion.

But digital online and mobile markets are growing at an incredible rate, according to the study, prompting record labels to frantically seek out deals with mobile companies, to stop themselves from sinking.

A good example is this week's deal between Warner Music Group and Nokia, and Verizon Wireless’ announcement it would be offering Rhapsody’s subscription service, allowing customers access to over five million songs for a monthly fee.

Plans like Nokia’s 'all you can eat' mobile music service, as well as the fact that smartphones are becoming all the rage, mean the market is predicted to increase from the $1.7 billion it was in 2007 to a cool three billion dollars by the end of 2008 alone. The report goes on to say that by 2009 the market slice will be closer to $4.8 billion, $6.2 billion in 2010, and $7.3 billion in 2011.

Online music sales are also in for a massive boost, predicted to soar from a paltry $1.9 billion in 2006 to $7.5 billion by 2011. The report also notes that together, online and mobile music sales could account for 56 per cent of the entire music market in just three years time.

Ring on dudes. µ

L’Inq
Emarketer report (pay to download)

See Also
Warner joins Nokia's music download service

Nokia's mobile music service threatens all comers