By Katy Bachman, Mediaweek

Mobile audio has a ways to go before it’s as ubiquitous as terrestrial radio. According to the results of a study by Arbitron and Telephia released Tuesday, only one in 16 mobile phone subscribers (6 percent) report using one or more audio features in the past 30 days.

The most common use of mobile audio is transferring music from another device and using the cell phone like an MP3 player.

The results were based on an online survey of over 2,000 wireless subscribers in February 2007.

Nearly half of wireless subscribers (47 percent) use their mobile phone for more than just a telephone. At the top of the list of activities used by mobile phone users was text-messaging with 36 percent responding they had sent or received a text message in the last 30 days.

“Listening to audio on the phone is in the early stages,” said Wayman Leung, senior product manager for Telephia.

Despite a high awareness (two-thirds of respondents) of mobile audio options, consumers may be difficult to lure to the mobile audio marketplace. About two-thirds of non-mobile-audio users are “not interested at all” in any of the four major options for accessing mobile audio services, including downloading music, listening to FM radio, subscribing to a radio service or transferring music from a personal collection on a computer.

The profile of the mobile audio listener tends to be male (63 percent), and between the ages of 25 to 44 (about 71 percent of all mobile audio users), slightly older than the mobile user fond of texting. A higher percentage of mobile-audio users are Hispanic, Asian or African-American compared to the general mobile population. Mobile audio users spend more time than the general mobile population with nearly every media and entertainment activity with the exception of TV.

“There is an opportunity for wireless providers, programmers and marketers to develop an advertising model for mobile audio,” Leung said. “Most current mobile-audio users prefer the ad-supported model over paying a subscription fee.”