The UK mobile operators have been offering full-track music downloads for a while now, but they’ve not quite caught on as fast as they hoped. In Japan, it’s a different story.
According to new figures from industry body the RIAJ, mobile full-track downloads increased by 91% last year, and mobile downloads overall (i.e. including ringtones) now generate more than 90% of all digital music sales in Japan.
The growth is being driven by youngsters, who got used to downloading music to their phones rather than to their PCs. However, those pesky kids aren’t doing everything the music industry wants them to – the RIAJ says that more than 400 million mobile full-tracks were illegally downloaded in Japan last year, and has started airing TV ads warning against it.
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