Cell Phone Makers Singing The Praises Of Wireless Music

The articles about music on cell phones is getting a wee bit tiring, but as long as they keep writing them and analysts keep quoting, then I'll continue posting. Investor's Business Daily writes the latest about where the market stands for the mobile music market.

Gartner analyst Ben Wood said, "If you look at the hype-ometer, music is definitely the hottest. But no one has quite got the right model for the business yet."

"The Rokr was kind of a disappointment,. You hear a song, go home, find it on iTunes, connect your phone and download. The real goal is to download it directly," Wood added.

Howver, other than the carriers and record labels, who really wants to download music over the air? Don't look at the Japan market for guidance even though the market for full song downloads has grown to $400+ million this year. It's a very different usage model over there with not as many people owning home PCs as in the U.S. With the PC as the main conduit for digital music in the U.S., will consumers want to pay extra for the convenience of getting a song anytime, anywhere? We'll see....