[by Jemima Kiss]—EMI‘s prediction is that global revenue from digital platforms will grow from less than one per cent in 2003 to 25 per cent in 2010. Thomas Ryan, SVP for digital/mobile strategy, said EMI has a three-pronged approach (at least this conference has been good for lists, and we like those). Those prongs are: A&R, distributions partnerships and innovation, and embedding digital throughout the company. Their mantra is: “Digital music must be made available everywhere consumers want it”.
On the partnerships front, Ryan said there will be more and more important deals like the shared-revenue-on-all-platforms deal between EMI andT-Mobile for Robbie Williams’ tracks.
-- Jamster is quite excited about being sued. MD Markus Berger-de León said a German band is suing Jamster for not doing enough promotion of their single as a ringtone. Jamster doesn’t like the case, but it does rather likes the point that digital downloads are becoming recognised as a crucial element of music industry sales. The band claims it would have sold something like another 50,000 if the ringtone had been pushed more.
-- Omnifone director Rob Lewis predicts mobile phones will be much bigger than the iPod in a relatively short period of time. “The mass market is about devices that can do everything for the consumer without having to know about synching” and so on. More advantages over the iPod/iTunes system are one-touch billing that consumers love, phones are with us 24/7 and by Q1 2007, most people will have a mobile that can play and store music.