A brisk breeze ushered in the 2009 GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, amidst the anticipation of a dazzling display of new handsets and gadgets galore as nearly 50,000 members of the global mobile industry descended upon the Gaudi guilded city.  

In a climate of fear-driven, doom and gloom economic news, it was refreshing to be at the epicenter of innovation and positive thinking. While there was a slight dip in attendance, there were no talks of bailouts or bankruptcies to be overheard in the hallways connecting the massive exhibit halls housing everything from the Android to the latest iPhone knock off.   

According to BrandWeek, analysts agree that the wireless business generally remains in solid shape despite the recession.  Indeed, more Americans are expected to become cell phone users this year. The Yankee Group forecast that wireless subscriptions in the U.S. should climb by 4.5 percent in 2009 to 285 million from 273 million.  

Moreover, a younger generation is growing up without landlines, and they are certainly not going to cut their mobile services. That's just one compelling reason why wireless firms will shift a higher percentage of their media dollars onto the Web in 2009, increasing to 13 percent in 2013 from 7 percent this year, according to Jupiter Research.  

In fact, digital media overall has much to be optimistic about.  As discussed in my recent MIDEM coverage “Setting Music Free”, that conference was abuzz about innovation and experimental business models in the digital music sector. 

Maarten van Wijck, CEO of La Cúpula and Musicxip, attended both conferences and commented, “The profound transition that our industry is experiencing opens up many new opportunities every day for those that stay focused. This transition is not an isolated process that lasts a year, five years, or even a decade resulting in ‘a new model’. Change is continuous and won’t stop. We believe flexibility; interoperability and maximizing the flow of music to every possible channel will lead to increased audible visibility.  The subsequent accessibility and visibility drives both fan bases and revenues alike for independent artists and labels.” 

In light of projections that demonstrate worldwide revenues from digital media surpassed revenue generated by movie theaters and home video combined, for the first time in 2008, the stage is clearly set for dynamic growth opportunities and further validates investments made in the online sector going forward. 

The report, "Global Media & Entertainment Market Forecast, 2004-2012," predicts that global revenues from media and entertainment will exceed $845 billion this year, with more than 10 percent, or $90 billion, coming from online and mobile channels. In comparison, the world wide filmed entertainment market will generate $83.1 billion in revenues this year. 

Mobile World Congress, meanwhile, represents a more physical manifestation of these same ideals as four billion of us are now in constant sync through handsets in our pockets and purses, all set to keep us interconnected and sharing unlike never before. Ultimately, the growth of the mobile industry cannot possibly be underestimated, especially in light of the global market being set to reach six billion connections by 2013.  

At Mobile World Congress, Alexander Izosimov, Chief Executive of Russia's number two carrier, Vimpelcom, chose to highlight the positives surrounding the industry.  "We are lucky, that unlike many other industries, we are dealing with something which is absolutely guaranteed to expand in the future," he said.   

"Human demand for communication, knowledge exchange, information is truly insatiable and we're in the midst of it, so therefore, our growth is absolutely secure,” he told Reuters.  

The recording industry and the mobile industry share similarities in that innovation doesn’t come from the top, through carriers, operators or the major labels themselves but, rather, from the Google’s and Apple’s of the world who have inspired a marketplace of application development and innovative offerings that remains unparalleled and leaves behemoths like Microsoft and Nokia gasping for breath as they try to compete and catch up.  

Neither Google nor Apple needed to be in attendance on the exhibit floor, however, their presence was felt everywhere.  In contrast, Yahoo dished out ice cream at their booth that was as chilly as their stock performance, which remains frozen as the company continually fails to inspire or innovate the marketplace.  

Smaller sized technology suppliers like Materna, on the other hand, were sharing news of their new partnership with Sony Music to roll out direct-to-consumer artist download stores all across Europe and a plethora of technology developers, like Company28.com, battled for mind share as they unveiled apps and offerings for taking mobile devices to the next level.   

Consumers seem especially drawn to the latest and greatest apps made for Apple as research firm Net Applications recently found that Apple's iPhone represents a staggering 66.61 percent of mobile traffic while its competitors have only just gained a foothold. 

Another innovator offering solutions was Omnifone, the provider of music services to mobile operators and device vendors alike, who announced at the Mobile World Congress that it would extend its offerings to provide music services to ISPs in an attempt to address the labels’ failure to deliver a compelling solution to curb piracy. The new DRM-free service, MusicStation Next Generation, will allow users to download music and send it simultaneously to their different devices. The service, which is comprised of unlimited music downloads and streaming, was expected to be bundled into new subscription packages and offered to existing customers as an add on.  

After attending GSMA Mobile World Congress, we jetted to New York City to attend the Digital Music Forum East where Ralph Simon dutifully tried to coax industry insiders on the panel entitled “Can Mobile Save the Music Industry?” into convincing the audience that their corporate coated offerings were compelling while the small innovators attending the conference, such as SongBeat, SoundCloud, earBuzz.com, and Omnifone, among others, blazed across the blogosphere driven by consumer demand.    

Whether one is an Apple advocate or an Android evangelist, the remnant optimistic spirit was clear in the mobile market where bottom up development is steering the market empowering start ups and developers to create products and services geared to attract the most users. 

Hal Bringman

About the author:  Hal Bringman is a communications consultant and founder
of NVPR. The company has deep experience in the digital media sector.  Long
before Steve Jobs ever figured out what an MP3 file was, the firm has been
guiding the digital music revolution since launching MP3.com, Napster, and
many other major players. The company launched and built many of the biggest
or most talked about brands in mobile entertainment and digital media.  
With offices in Los Angeles and Buenos Aires, the team is prepared to revamp
websites, launch global PR/marketing campaigns, and accelerate business
development.