HONG KONG - RAMPANT piracy and a crumbling market for CDs has put the music industry in Asia under immense pressure, but experts are hoping that technology and social media will help fill the gap.

Marcel Fenez, of PricewaterhouseCoopers' entertainment and media practice said that Asia's physical distribution market fell by 9.3 per cent in 2008 - the biggest drop the industry had seen in five years.

A survey of more than 8,000 young Asians between 15 and 24 years old found only 11 percent paid for the music they obtained online.

Faced with such bleak figures, the industry is exploring how it can capitalise on new technology and get paid for music in a completely new way.

Paul Smith, from Nokia, said the handset manufacturer was now offering music services bundled with its mobile phones.

Instead of paying per song, music lovers are allowed to download onto their phone any song they want for a 12 to 18-month period. The cost of the music is factored into the price of the handset.

This feature has been launched in several European countries, as well as in Australia and Singapore.

This all-you-can-eat approach to downloading music is not just about selling handsets, it's about putting a stop to unauthorised downloading, said Mr Smith.

The biggest testing ground for innovative approaches is China, where the lure of 1.3 billion consumers is marred by piracy, which industry experts put at more than 90 per cent.

One previously-unthinkable scheme being tried out comes from Internet giant Google, in partnership with record labels such as Warner, Sony and EMI. Working with Chinese music site Top100, the project, launched earlier this year, offers Chinese users music that can be legally downloaded for free. -- AFP