Increased availability of broadband in the home, combined with consumer demand for music singles, will contribute to 40% of all music sales going digital by 2012, according to a new study.

Global sales for worldwide full-track mobile downloads (led by Japan) will reach approximately $4.2 billion by 2012, said In-Stat, a US research firm. Online digital music reached $3.05 billion in 2007, up 48% from 2006.
The study also found that more than 70% of respondents in a research poll who accessed online video in 2007 did not pay for it. This means the content viewed by this group was free, ad-supported or pirated.

“Digital piracy continues to represent the primary challenge to online music service providers,” said In-Stat analyst Stephanie Ethier. “Other obstacles include the lack of interoperability between services and devices due to differing digital rights management technologies and weak consumer demand for subscription-based services.”

Despite piracy, the report found that content owners, cellular service providers and handset manufacturers are increasing the amount of marketing and promotion for mobile music.

Story filed 11.04.08