The global music market is set to grow again spurred on by increased consumption through multiple channels – particularly mobile phones, according to new data from Portio Research.

Portio predicts that annual revenues will reach $38.8bn by 2011 and that by 2012 MP3-enabled mobile handsets will outnumber stand alone MP3 players by approximately 5 to 1.

Portio says that this year, over half of the 1 billion mobile handsets shipped will have music playing capabilities and that while worldwide sales of stand alone MP3 music devices will continue to grow, sales will level out by 2012.The research firm also suggests that over-the-air music downloads have the potential to be one of the most successful non-voice services after SMS, “providing prices remain attractive to consumers”.