"Can something like this save the music industry?''

Record labels are predicting that this month's launch of three new mobile phone music services will usher a return of rising sales after years of decline.

Apple's music-playing iPhone grabbed the headlines with its arrival in Britain last week. But music executives are just as excited about the new unlimited downloads service launched on Vodafone. Also Nokia, the world's largest maker of mobile phones, has opened a digital music store.

The world's biggest music company, Universal, is backing the MusicStation, the Vodafone service.. "We are at a turning point in the UK," predicting digital music sales here could offset falling CD sales within a year.

One place where the gap has been closed is Japan. Total music sales there edged up 1% last year. Japan's success in offsetting falling CD sales is largely attributed to the prevalence of mobile downloads.

There are already indications that mobile music sales are picking up in the UK. The Orange UK network says its music sales jumped 70% over the past six months and it expects them to double by the end of 2007.

analysts say that new handsets are helping the mobile music market move away from mere ringtones to full song downloads. They expect the UK mobile music market to almost double from a predicted $83m this year to $156m in 2011

There are hopes handsets will improve further from a music-playing perspective thanks to the iPhone..

Although prices have fallen, payment is simpler and handsets easier to use, telecoms experts still list several obstacles to record labels' fortunes being transformed.

"Can something like this save the music industry? in the short term no. Because it's only on Vodafone at the moment and secondly it's very cheap, meaning that the actual revenue for the music industry per user can only be quite small."

Jonathan Arber, agrees users want more simplicity ,being able to play what they buy across various devices. That is already happening with developments in Sony Ericsson's Walkman phones, which synchronise with computers.

Questions:
1) To who would this new music player be aimed at?
2)How will it appeal to its target audience?
3)Do you think it will be successful? why?
4) What are the disadvantages of this?