Asia's Digital Music Free-For-All
Demand for online and mobile music is strong in Asia, but so is piracy, and that has music executives singing the blues
Young, urban Asian consumers are among the most tech-savvy people on the planet. In a region that boasts roughly 1 billion handsets and blisteringly fast wireless networks in richer markets such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, Asian teens and 20-somethings are "mashing up" music and video content from every imaginable source by integrating applications from their feature-laden mobile handsets, personal computers, and the Net.
These kids love to download everything from J-Pop acts in Tokyo to Vedic heavy-metal bands out of Mumbai and New Delhi. There's just one problem: They hate to pay for it. And what should be a dynamic market for the global music industry and all manner of online and mobile music sites is turning out to be a bedeviling one. Companies are casting about for the right business model to exploit the undeniable demand for digital music in a region where pirated CDs and illicit music and file-sharing sites are ubiquitous.
Most vulnerable by far are the major music-recording labels. Legitimate physical sales of music (LPs, cassettes, CDs, DVD audio, and so on) have been falling or remaining stagnant this decade and the $29.3 billion in worldwide sales the industry raked in last year is expected to fall 61% to $18 billion by 2009, according to estimates by Soundbuzz, a Singapore-based digital music provider.
Demand for online and mobile music is strong in Asia, but so is piracy, and that has music executives singing the blues
Young, urban Asian consumers are among the most tech-savvy people on the planet. In a region that boasts roughly 1 billion handsets and blisteringly fast wireless networks in richer markets such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, Asian teens and 20-somethings are "mashing up" music and video content from every imaginable source by integrating applications from their feature-laden mobile handsets, personal computers, and the Net.
These kids love to download everything from J-Pop acts in Tokyo to Vedic heavy-metal bands out of Mumbai and New Delhi. There's just one problem: They hate to pay for it. And what should be a dynamic market for the global music industry and all manner of online and mobile music sites is turning out to be a bedeviling one. Companies are casting about for the right business model to exploit the undeniable demand for digital music in a region where pirated CDs and illicit music and file-sharing sites are ubiquitous.
Most vulnerable by far are the major music-recording labels. Legitimate physical sales of music (LPs, cassettes, CDs, DVD audio, and so on) have been falling or remaining stagnant this decade and the $29.3 billion in worldwide sales the industry raked in last year is expected to fall 61% to $18 billion by 2009, according to estimates by Soundbuzz, a Singapore-based digital music provider.
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