Subscription-based mobile music rental services which offer unlimited music downloads will eclipse the market for paid-for original recordings, and will provide the majority of revenues from original music recordings, according to a new report from Juniper Research.

Juniper predicts that revenues from subscription based mobile music rental services will hit $3.3 billion by 2012 while revenues from original recordings delivered to mobile devices will reach $2.8 billion for a total of $6.1 billion. Total mobile music revenues (including ringtones) is expected to hit $17.6 billion. In comparison, a December report from market research firm Understanding & Solutions puts the total revenue at $11 billion by 2011. Usually offered through operators, the all you can eat services—such as those from Omnifone—are an especially good way for networks to retain customers and up ARPU rates, as they are an “incredibly sticky” application. The report argues that once consumers have put time and effort into building up an extensive play list, they are less likely to unsubscribe from the service.

Meanwhile, the fastest growing markets for music downloads will be India and China, which will see full-track download sales “mushroom” as 3G services are rolled out. Juniper predicts that the volume of downloads in the Indian sub-continent alone will rise from less than 2 million in 2007 to nearly 480 million in 2012.

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