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36 per cent Indians listen to FM radio on mobile: TNS report
There is a rising trend among mobile phone users in Asia of using the mobile as an MP3 player and an FM/AM radio to listen to music
Consumption of music on mobile phones is on a fast track in Asia. TNS, a global market research company, studied the use and accessibility of music features such as MP3 player and radio on mobile phones in its global study, TNS Global Telecoms Insight.
According to the study, use of MP3 players and FM/AM radio on mobile phones has risen by 78 per cent and 140 per cent, respectively, across the globe in 2007.
In India, 16 per cent of the total 482 respondents surveyed use the digital MP3 player on their mobile phone, while 36 per cent use the FM radio player. Only 17 per cent of the total respondents download music on their mobile phones; most transfer music from their PCs.
Parijat Chakraborty, vice-president, technology, TNS India, said in a release: “Demographic diversity, coupled with differences in culture and taste, has made India an ideal breeding and testing ground for many mobile value added services. Though India is quite behind in terms of contribution of VAS in overall revenue, the country is much ahead of many developed countries in terms of variety of VAS for consumers.”
However, the report states that the presence of music features on a mobile does not imply use and there is a gap between availability and use of the FM radio and MP3 player on the mobile. For example, in India, out of 18 per cent of total respondents, 16 per cent use the MP3 player feature. Similarly, 50 per cent of the total respondents surveyed have access to FM radio, out of which only 36 per cent listen to FM on their mobile.
TNS also studied whether the consumption of mobile music was increasing over a period of 18 months (June 2006-November 2007). For the purpose, it interviewed 439 SEC A and B respondents in India. The results show the increasing trend of using the mobile to listen to music. The percentage of people using their mobile’s FM radio increased from 16 per cent in June 2006 to 38 per cent in November 2007. Similarly, the percentage of people using their mobile’s MP3 player rose from 10 per cent in June 2006 to 17 per cent in November 2007.
A total 16,000 respondents from 29 countries, including India, Russia, Japan, Hong Kong and Thailand, participated in the study, including 482 respondents from India.