Korea Software Development Institute stated that the Korean digital sound source market has grown from last year's W45 billion to W185 billion this year. As Kim Ha-chun of KTF's music business team stated, "The online music market is expected to be as large as W600 billion, and that's why companies are diving in for their share".

SK Telecom seems the most active of those companies that have jumped into the fray. It stated Monday that it had launched its music service 'Melon' that allows users to enjoy musical downloads on their personal computers - without any restrictions on time or place - for W5,000 per month. After downloading music from the website they can also play it on their MP3 machines or other digital devices.

LG Telecom is also close to launching 'Music On', its music portal that is expected to begin operating this month. The company plans to allow users to enjoy the complementary service until next June. KTF has also formed a special team dedicated to online music services.

KTF's moves come as mobile telecommunication companies are gearing up for the transition of mobile phones into digital music players. Users must navigate their way through such services to play MP3s on their handsets. As a sign of the mushrooming potential of this business, KTF announced that the total revenue from various music downloading fees for the big three companies would likely add up to W300 billion.

Manufacturers of digital music players such as Samsung Electronics and iRiver are turning to foreign competitiors for inspiration in a bid to seal their future success. In illustration, US-based Apple has sold 4 million iPods in the period up to September this year and recorded over 100 million music downloads through its iTunes service.

Samsung Electronics unleashed 'Yepp Studio' on November 1 to enable users to download MP3s onto their Yepp players. A venture named Wizmax will provide the music services demanded by both Anycall Land and Yepp Studio. Reigncom, another manufacturer of MP3 players, has also thrown its hat into the ring by introducing its 'Funcake' service (www.funcake.com) in April this year.

Current market leaders, meanwhile, are busy devising their own protective strategies to safeguard their market share. MaxMP3 aims to retain the major chunk of its 1.5 million members with various new services such as mini-homepages and video-on-demand (VOD) movies. Neowiz's 'JukeOn' will offer connected services such as Sayclub and PMang.

(Bak Kang-young, young100@chosun.com )