The country's mobile music downloads are growing at a scorching pace with the proliferation of smartphones and the expansion of third-generation wireless broadband networks, says the mobile leader AIS.
The market value for music service revenue from mobile operators and content providers is expected to rise 15% to 4.6 billion baht this year, said Pratthana Leelapanang, vice-president for value-added service at Advanced Info Service.
"The number of music-enabled smartphones is expected to surge to 15 million by the end of this year, up from the current 10 million," he said.
Mr Pratthana said AIS has so far recorded 1 million music downloads, or about 200,000 songs a month, via its Music Store introduced last year.
"We expect to see 2 million song downloads by June," he added.
AIS, in collaboration with Sony Music, is adding international songs to the Music Store, bringing the total to 30,000 songs.
The company plans to provide music video services and concerts on mobile phones when internet speed and bandwidth are sufficient.
Preparations are also being made to extend music download support to Apple's iPad and other tablets, apart from the existing smartphones.
Mr Pratthana said music downloads represent a content flagship for AIS, and he expects to increase non-voice revenue by 20-25% this year.
But he acknowledged that popular illegal downloads remain a key challenge in stimulating music market growth.
To boost download traffic, AIS has lowered prices from in the past when it charged 20-30 baht per song.
The company expects revenue from music downloads to double this year, culminating in at least a 50% share of the market.
Thailand's music downloads via mobile phone were valued last year at 4 billion baht, 90% of which came from calling melodies and the rest from full-song downloads.
Pattra Boosarawongse, general manager of Sony Music Entertainment Operating (Thailand), said the digital music market has plenty of room to grow.
