C|Net News says that Verizon Wireless and Sprint Wireless are gearing up to offer music downloads to the cell phone market, "which at more than 170 million in the United States alone dwarfs the number of people who have purchased iPods or any other MP3 players."

Don't look for bargains, though:

[M]usic is likely to be as much as two or three times as expensive on wireless devices, with a smaller selection available for purchase, compared to services such as iTunes, analysts say. . . . [L]abels and carriers see phone consumers' willingness to pay $3 or more for ring tones--essentially phone rings customized with snippets of hit songs or other audio files--as evidence that they'll pay more than 99 cents for a full song. Carriers also think consumers may pay more for the convenience of instantly buying a song wherever they are.

posted by James DeLong @ 8:07 AM | Infrastructure

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