Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) is looking to music to help it compete with its mobile rivals including RIM (NSDQ: RIMM), Apple (NSDQ: AAPL), and Nokia.The software giant told Reuters Friday that it would be improving music in future versions of its Windows Mobile software. Microsoft Mobile Communications Business SVP Andy Lees said that Apple had “leveraged on” the “music scenario” and that was “something” that operators and Microsoft were partnering on, though he did not go into specific details. He also noted that mobile music was a “huge business opportunity,” since each year, consumers bought 10 times as many music-playing mobiles as iPods.

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IDC estimated that in the first quarter of the year, Microsoft shipped 4.3 million units of its Windows Mobile software, compared to the 1.7 million iPhones that Apple sold in the same time period. So far, handset makers Samsung, Motorola (NYSE: MOT), HTC, Sony (NYSE: SNE) Ericsson (NSDQ: ERIC) and Asustek Computer use Windows Mobile to power some of their devices. Microsoft has said it plans to embrace both consumer and business features in its mobile push, as it believes that people will eventually want to carry only one device that does it all. In March, Toronto-based digital music provider Puretracks announced it was launching a music service for RIM’s Blackberrys.