The mobile music sector has traditionally revolved around ringtones, a format that favors pop and hip-hop.  That is great for rappers with catchy hooks, but less interesting for other genres.  “Unless you’re working with urban or pop music, then basically there’s very little money out there in mobile music,” said Beggars Group Digital director Simon Wheeler during a discussion Thursday at Transmission in Victoria, British Columbia.

Actually, the ringtones party is starting to ebb.  But with the sudden-and-quick onset of the mobile app, things are starting to change.  “Recently, I would say with the advent of applications, a whole new world has opened up to us now,” said Mark Jowett, cofounder of Nettwerk Music Group.  “We’ve been licensing a lot of music in applications, like Tap Tap Revenge for example… and many of our artists are simply creating their own music apps.”

Jowett is not sitting on a massive pop or hip-hop catalog, and therefore, ringtones are “less than one percent” of broader revenues.  But the onset of a slew of new apps opens the door for stronger mobile-related contributions ahead.

But the app, at least in the form popularized by Apple, has only been on the market for a short time.  That makes licensing discussions a creative and pioneering endeavor. Jowett noted that negotiations are often experimental, and the parties are basically making it up as they go along.

Others pointed to ongoing problems stemming from complicated licensing structures – for apps or other services.  Part of the reason is that music is competing with other forms of entertainment – like games – that are often far easier to license.  “We’re dealing with a new industry that doesn’t really have anything invested in our longstanding, complicated way of licensing,” said Catharine Saxburg, director of the Canadian Music Publishers Association (CMPA).  “Mobile companies are interested in promoting content, whether it’s music, or games, or 30-second episodes – it’s all the same to them.  They don’t necessarily have to play our game here.” 

Report by publisher Paul Resnikoff in Victoria, BC