New York, NY (July 6, 2008) – eMarketer is reporting that a steady decline in overall sales for the music industry is inevitable, but not all is bad; online and mobile music are expected to grow rapidly, they say, to the tune of $7.3 billion in mobile alone.  From InformationWeek.com:

…As more and more multimedia-capable handsets are released, the mobile music market is expected to jump from $1.7 billion in 2007 to $3 billion by the end of the year. The figure is estimated to grow to $4.8 billion in 2009, $6.2 billion in 2010, and $7.3 billion in 2011.

On Tuesday, Nokia (NYSE: NOK) inked an agreement with Warner Music Group to make its library available on Nokia’s Come With Music service and music store. According to a report from The Register, the record labels are receiving a very lucrative deal with these types of mobile ventures.

This isn’t terribly shocking news, but I suppose as far as “predicted evidence” goes, this could be considered a slam-dunk for the industry.  These kinds of reports usually walk hand-in-hand with technological advances, and with that tech innovation comes new business and marketing strategies.  With some clear direction at last, expect labels (and artists) to take advantage of this news and give you some new ways to enjoy your mobile phone.

Switching gears a bit, The Financial Times ran a story the other day that gave clues as to where exactly the industry gets all it’s money.  Enlighten me:

…The majority of non-retail revenues come from licensing music played on the radio and television and in clubs and bars. Income from this public performance licensing grew 14.8 per cent last year.  The BPI did not break out the value of individual revenue streams, but said the fastest-growing area of alternative incomes was digital licensing to online music “streaming” services such as Last.fm, We7 and Yahoo Music, growing at 55.7 per cent.

Revenue from so-called “360-degree deals” – in which contracts with artists secure for labels income from areas not directly related to music, such as merchandise, touring and mobile phone wallpaper – grew 16.2 per cent. Most of that was from new signings rather than established artists, a BPI representative said.

Just an evil thought: If I was the industry and really wanted to be a scrooge, I’d send agents out every Saturday night to the nearest reception hall and ask to see a.) the house’s information, and b.) the DJ’s information.  I’d probably sock that agent in the face if he did that while I was spinning, but it ain’t a secret mobile DJs have been sliding under the radar for years.  Their own subtle way of stickin it to the man.  I’d like to see THOSE stats…

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