Key success factors in the emerging landscape of mobile music services

Currently, the music industry tries to find legitimate ways to digitally deliver its content to end users in a secure and profitable manner. On the other hand wireless network operators strive to find new revenue streams that will enable them to recoup the enormous investment made for acquiring third generation licenses. Mobile music services promise to create substantial value both for music content providers and mobile operators as well as for all the players constituting the mobile music value chain. Employing qualitative research techniques we try to investigate perceived key success factors for three key players in the mobile music value chain: mobile operators, music content providers and music consumers. All three key players perceive that an on demand personalized mobile music service will have a great impact on the music industry. Handling of copyrights, devices capabilities, quality of music content and ease of use, constitute the major key success factors for a mobile music service. There seems to be no differences (requirements gap) in perceptions regarding key success factors between potential service providers (mobile operators and music content providers) and music consumers.