That is the word from Erik Landt, Head of Music at Ericsson, who spoke at the recent London Calling conference on June 28-29, and focused on the growing relationship between music and technology.

“Mobile phones mean mobile music,” Landt says. “Your mobile is always on, it’s always with you and it’s your own personal device. You’re creating your own music space, playing music anywhere and anytime. You’re never lonely.”

Consumers are also downloading music onto their mobiles at an increasing rate, making telecom even more important to the music industry as it looks for new revenue streams and ways to distribute its products.

Such was the case when Ericsson and Napster, the biggest brand in digital music, launched Napster Mobile for mobile network operators in 2006. The latest operator to launch Napster Mobile is Swisscom, the number one mobile operator in Switzerland. Swisscom signed up for Napster Mobile, fully hosted, integrated and managed by Ericsson, and launched the service in June with a massive marketing campaign.

The Napster Mobile service provides consumers with a simple way to search and browse Napster’s music catalog, and allows them to preview, purchase and play songs on their mobile handsets through an integrated music player.

“It has been difficult technologically for users to access good quality music stores or storage sites,” Landt says. “But now with deals such as this one with Napster, the storage is there.” 

Initially, mobile music was about individualization. It began with ringtones and was mostly about self-expression. But now music is perceived as the second-most important media type on mobile phones, after pictures.

The medium is especially popular among 15-17-year-olds, who store 60 percent more songs on their phones than the average user. Sixty percent of young users prefer music on their mobile phones, while fewer than 40 percent want a stand-alone MP3 player, a recent report from Ericsson ConsumerLab shows.

“There has been a shift in how consumers choose to download music instead of the traditional way of buying it, which has resulted in the telecom industry becoming more important to the music industry and vice versa,” Landt says.