Phone spy collates user behaviour

MOST PEOPLE simply guess when asked questions like - 'How many ringtones do you download a month?' M:meter takes that guesswork away.

This new phone app has already been created by market watchers, M:metrics, to improve their market intelligence. They've already got 1,000 people across the USA and the UK providing them with feedback.

The company has been steadily collecting the data for nine months and selling the results to major players in the mobile field including music content providers as well as mobile network operators.

With the advent of the M:meter, however, the whole process will become much more scientific. More to the point, it could help to build far more accurate charts for the likes of music video downloads and ringtone downloads.

As Will Hodgman, CEO with M:metrics, points out, "As consumers become mobile, they are spending less time engaging in traditional media, such as television and radio.

While our survey-based measurement accurately quantifies this audience - which is larger than the audience for most television shows in syndication in the USA - the M:meter provides even more detailed insights into the behaviours of mobile media users."

It will be good news for operators like 3 who have turned themselves into mobile content providers but still struggle to have their sales taken into account by traditional music industry charts. µ