• April 14, 2008

Bad news for would-be iTunes competitors: Two-thirds of U.S. wireless subscribers have no interest in premium music offerings, according to a new study by JupiterResearch.

Consumer apathy and unnecessary hurdles accessing content are keeping adoption rates low. Of the 1,800 mobile users surveyed by Jupiter, 28% were interested in ringtones, while only 14% expressed interest in full-track downloads.

Blame current pricing models by wireless operators, says Jupiter--which typically aren't competitive with iTunes' 99 cent per-download charge. In addition to cost, copyright and content storage restrictions, and the popularity of music-only devices like the iPod have also discouraged getting music via mobile phone.

--Mark Walsh