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Music lovers tend to have esoteric tastes and are particular about sound quality. They don't want to be limited to music from one label, and they demand high bitrates. The streaming services offered by today's networks are not the right solution. These people already have iPods full of music that they love. The only motivating factor for them in this space is the ability to reduce the number of devices they have to carry around by merging the phone and the music player. This means that they'll probably end up using cell phones that have the ability to let them play music from their own collection.

In the short term, this means phones with mini sd cards and headphone jacks (like the Verizon Chocolate) will be the go-to solution for music lovers. As mobile data network speeds continue to increase, they will move to devices that allow them to acccess their own music collection over the network. Services like http://anywhere.fm are the future, and phones that allow someone to really access their own music anywhere will be big winners.

When I go for walks, I always have my cell phone with me. In addition, I carry an iPod. Sometimes I listen to music. I also listen to lots of podcasts and audio books. I always wished for an integrated device the combines the functionality of phone, mp3 player but works seamlessly - stop the audio player when a call comes and resume from the point of interruption. iPhone seems to do this well and soon, this may be a common feature in all the phones.

With services like Jott, you can also use your phone as an idealog and record information and have it delivered.

So my take is that an integrated device has its uses, not just a song service but something that goes beyond.

Another point (slightly off topic). When I was traveling in India, I used a lot of public transport. Having a GPRS enabled phone let me catch up with all the Digg stories during rides.

I know this goes against the grain and against the prevailing industry wisdom that online music stores are both the way forward and the way to make a lot of money, but the constant reliance on DRM-locked solutions are a huge, huge barrier to mainstream acceptance and (most importantly) personal recommendation.

Yes, with modern flat rate data plans it's now just about (only just, mind you) practical to browse and buy music tracks over-the-air, with the associated 'convenience'. But people swap and change phones a lot (two or three times a year in many cases) and each person is going to be extremely annoyed at unnecessary DRM blocks in the way of preserving their new music collection and getting it onto a new device. "What, you mean I've got to buy all those tracks again? Stuff this, I'm not buying music on a phone again!" And so on.

Of course, a totally DRM-free music solution might win people over, but then there are piracy issues that could run rampant and it's doutbful that the increased sales from happier people could outweight the loss in sales from file copying and piracy.

There's no really easy and obvious way to win here. Music piracy is very widespread on the desktop and wider Internet and the only real sales of music are through tightly controlled channels like iTunes and CDs bought by fans who want to own 'product'. I don't believe that mobile-focussed music stores will dramatically change the landscape - sorry.

What manufacturers can do is make it much easier and more seamless to transfer music files (bought online or ripped from people's own CDs) from PCs and Macs to phones and smartphones. People expect the digital music world to be seamless and the moment the continuity is broken, their confidence is shaken irrevocably.

Steve Litchfield

I come to this from a cynical perspective. People want music on their phones -- not "applications."

There's already a slew of PC-based applications which work great for locating and downloading music files. Users are perfectly content to use these PC-based applications, and transfer those music files to their phone. But nobody wants to use that tiny handheld phone to perform the actual music searches -- especially during those volatile moments when they're on the go!

Don't forget that the PC-based downloading applications can take advantage of broadband connections. Downloading speed is crucial. It's the single biggest factor in the quality of the experience -- and right now most mobile music-downloading applications have trouble competing.

Playing music on a mobile device may be a killer application -- but downloading that music with a mobile device isn't. The phone companies recognize music as a possible driver of adoption, and they're partnering with downloading services not specifically for the application itself. They're after the extra credibility it gives them for their phone's music-playing capabilities. And for that reason I think some phone companies are only trying to avoid the perception of a "music-downloading application gap." But there's no evidence of a pent-up consumer demand for the ability to search for music downloads using the phone.

Japan and England may be the exception. Both countries have a unique infrastructure for internet access with prohibitive installation and connection fees. So they've developed a stronger attachment to mobile phones, and are more willing to integrate new applications into their daily lives. But in the United States, where there's already a huge installed base of computers with cheap, unlimited internet access, the question remains -- who really needs to use a phone to download music files?

I see this as being an irrelevant artifact of our time. The phone companies may continue to bundle the music-downloading applications on their handsets, but in the next few years they'll recognize that there's been a low plateau for the number of actual users on the services. Some mobile-only download services could go out of business unless they can establish a user base in countries where mobile downloading is more popular. Most of these applications will continue to be propped up by revenues from their PC-based services. I wouldn't be surprised if phones started dropping these applications from their devices altogether when it became clear that this wasn't an important application to consumers.

Within a few years, I'd hope to see mobile devices open up their APIs. Then the phones become just another node on the internet, using grass roots tools made by enthusiastic developers. At that point you might find some original applications that would be more appealing -- maybe the next "Bejeweled" could come from an ambitious teenaged game developer.

But given my cynicism, I don't recommend any mobile music applications or services -- other than simply uploading your favorite music files from your PC to your phone. What would it take to win me over? Exclusive content. Unfortunately, that would be hard to line that up, since content developers don't want to limit themselves to the small universe of mobile-only listeners.

Maybe someone needs to develop a unique format for the mobile-only content -- maybe a series of "special editions" of songs for the mobile audiences with an introduction recorded by the musicians? Maybe they could offer "a thought a day" (along with the song), either continuing the general mood of their songs and albums, or maybe lobbying for a political cause that they're committed to. As a band tours, they might release a live recording of a song or two from each stop on the tour, just to keep the fan base interested. A few bands -- like "They Might Be Giants" and Jonathan Coulton -- are prolific enough to generate a continuous stream of new songs, and might even enjoy the chance to create special songs for mobile audiences.

There could be other formats -- maybe a real-world scavenger hunt could use audio clues that are downloaded, or a popular TV show could release tie-in sound files to build up interest. (The TV show "Lost" had an ongoing game with a complex parallel storyline.) Even "exclusive preview clips" could draw some interest.

Currently there's nothing unique offered by the mobile downloading applications. I predict that someday consumers will be dazzled by the new capabilities of mobile applications and the content they make available. But right now, they're just duplicating services that work better in other environments.

More and more mobile handsets are becoming enabled with music features. They are also capable of downloading that music direct to the handset. Therefore, people might want the ability to obtain music from anywhere, anytime. At least that's what the mobile carriers seem to believe. Even the mobile handset makers are getting into the act.

I believe it is inevitable that the mass market will use their mobile phones to purchase and listen music. However, I do not believe that it will happen right away, at least in the US, for a number of reasons:

Buy It Now For How Much?: In addition to the price of the tracks, which starts at $0.99 depending on the service, you have to have a data plan with your mobile provider. This ads substantially to the cost of mobile music.

Battery Life: Mobile phones are already fairly battery-challenged as it is. Using the mobile phone as a music player does increases the battery drain on the device. This is an ultimately solvable problem, of course, but not today.

DRM: Pretty much all of these services involve the use of Digital Rights Management to prevent the downloaded songs from being spread around the Internet. DRM makes it difficult to move the music around to different device, not to mention adds unnecessary overhead to the entire process. When the mobile services start selling music without DRM, I might consider buying it.

Where's iTunes Compatibility?: Like it or not, Apple's iTunes is the music management software the vast majority of people use. None of these services make it easy to integrate with iTunes. The Windows-specific DRM makes it that much more difficult.

Personally, what would make me switch to a different carrier has nothing to do with music, it's the basics: better coverage, lower cost, and shorter or non-existent fees for early termination. 

Karl L. Gechlik here again. You heard my insights last time about my RSS Addiction and this time we will be talking about, Do Phones and Music Really Mix? At first thought most people say no... Definitely not. But, then after a little more thinking people realize they do carry their phones around with them and the platform and service is a good match. Too bad batteries don't last forever and you are probably going to drain your battery into oblivion jamming to the new Jay-Z album.

Now Napster is in the news again as it is announcing its partnership with AT&T to sell over-the-air music downloads. This is far from revolutionary and do they think people are going to really pay for music that they already own? Probably not - but, for a new song they want right now they just might fork over their hard earned money on the fly. And that is what it is all about to AT&T isn't it? Having more ways people can give them more money with the push of the button.

I have been listening to music on my handhelds since I have been calling my Mobile a Handheld. The mobile industry should offer applications to rip your current music directly to your phone. There are currently lots of applications that do this but how about plugging your MP3 player directly into your phone for transfers? I would buy that! Anything that people see as a way to use their existing music purchases on their new digital platforms will be a winner for sure.