To help bridge the gap, Erik Landt joined the Ericsson organization in Stockholm, Sweden, in August. The former business development manager for Warner Music Sweden is using his expertise to create partnerships with the industry's key players and put more music on the mobile stage.

"There are a lot of challenges in understanding the rather complex world of music," Landt says. "And the process of building relations between Ericsson and record companies can be speeded up if they are both speaking the same language."

Landt has consequently been active in his role as Product Manager - Music. While the position involves securing mobile music business through negotiations in new markets, Landt is also helping operators to maximize the potential of music services.

"It's not only about delivering the solution to the operator and filling it with content," he says. "We need to have local knowledge about what's hot and what's not."

The unique aspect of mobile music services is the diversity of different markets. Aside from international A-list artists who sell records around the world, every country has its own home-grown pop stars.  

For example, Madonna's latest single, Hung Up, tops the current download trend but Swedish band Kent have experienced a constant stream of success in their home country. 

As Landt says: "In order to have a real impact on each individual market, there has to be someone working locally, in tune with who the big artists really are."

Ericsson calls this 'life cycle management' and the approach has become an integral part of their hosted music service philosophy. Designated personnel in each market become the link between the record labels, operators and technical operations. The aim is to ensure the right releases are included in the service, in the right place and at the right time.

"Music is ever changing" Landt says. "So a constant check is required on what is working on a local scene; the different airplay and sales charts of a specific country as well as what is actually being sold by the operator."

This approach has contributed to recent mobile music success with the launch of a service for Malaysian operator Maxis. service in conjunction with Swedish operator Tele2. Users have access to full-track downloads from the major labels – Sony BMG, EMI and Warner. "We are one of the few players that can provide this type of service, which puts us in the front line of selling new music," Landt says.

Ericsson offers a hosted, white-label service that is managed entirely by Ericsson including all the content and applications needed as well as the daily operations of the service. This allows the content provider to work on creating and marketing new content, and the operators to focus on branding and promoting the music service.

Hosting also enables launch and integration in a fast, cost-efficient and simple manner and with a solid digital rights management solution, agreements with most major record labels and a number of independent labels, Landt is confident that Ericsson has the complete music package and is extremely well positioned in the market. And he aims to use his experience and connections to keep Ericsson constantly in tune with the music industry.