Mobilising a lost generation of music consumers.

With the music industry looking to strengthen revenue via an ever- growing number of routes, an increasing number of labels are aligning themselves with Nokia as the launch of its Comes With Music platform draws near. But can the mobile giant light the blue touch paper for music on mobile?

While many people's experience of music on mobile phones is limited to downloading the occasional novelty ringtone or being driven mad by someone blaring out a tune on their handset on the bus, the mobile industry is taking the business of music ever more seriously with a number of initiatives now increasing the flow of ancillary revenue streams back to the music industry.

With the BPI recently announcing that record company revenue away from traditional music sales increased by 13.8% in 2007, music consumption via mobile phones is currently at the centre of the industry's plans to capitalise on opportunities outside of shifting physical units. Yet despite the industry's efforts, downloads to mobile phones have this year struggled to represent more than 10% of the overall single-track download market, something initiatives such as T Mobile's Mobile Jukebox and Sony Ericsson's PlayNow platform are looking to redress.

According to Jupiter Research, a healthy 35% of 15- to 24-year-olds currently use their handsets to enjoy music, more than half of which are male. But the majority of those tech-savvy young consumers are merely side-loading their handsets with music from PCs - much of which could have been downloaded illegally.

Says Jupiter Research president and research director Mark Mulligan, "That's why the Nokia Comes With Music offering is so highly relevant, because as long as the handsets are allotted in the right price ranges, it stands a really good chance of offering something that really does provide a genuine alternative to filesharing."

Last week saw Warner Music join Universal and Sony BMG in making its catalogue available via Nokia's Comes With Music platform, which will see the manufacturer offer the buyers of its handsets free access to the majors' vast music catalogues.

"It's the first global initiative to fundamentally align the interests of music companies with telecommunications companies," enthused Warner Music Group chairman and CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr at the time of the announcement.