So a report from Informa Telecoms & Media and Spotify claims.
European mobile operators could make a packet from streaming music services if they partner with companies like Spotify, claims a new report from Informa Telecoms & Media.
Informa worked with Spotify on the report, so the conclusion isn't startling. However, it's based on real data from Spotify's partnership with Swedish telco Telia.
The report claims that a Western European operator with 20 million customers could generate €77.7 million in revenues from such a deal in 2011 alone.
What's more, Informa suggests that if the leading operator in each Western European market adopted this approach, the total revenues would top €1.1 billion next year.
No wonder Spotify is distinctly bullish about the findings.
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"Music download stores which operators launched prolifically over the last 5 years are commodities and had little impact on core business metrics," says its director of European business development Adrian Blair.
"Streaming services, by contrast, have proved an effective way to differentiate from the competition and win new customers. They have also been used to upsell high-ARPU devices and reduce churn."
As yet, Spotify only has a handful of mobile operator partnerships, although they include 3 in the UK, which has bundled its Android app with several smartphones.
Informa is publishing the report today through its Analyst Community Group on LinkedIn.
