Great article in Wired exploring the 5 ways the mobile phone will change how we listen to music.

Although the portable music revolution has only been with us for a few years, we may be on the cusp of another paradigm shift: we’ll move from combined phones / MP3 players (which allow you to carry around your music collection with you on the device), to applications for your phone that let you tune into interactive, customised streams via the cloud.

The stumbling block, as ever, is the tricky issue of licensing. SeeqPod gives users an on-demand playback service, but they’re currently battling Warner Music in court over the tiny matter of rights. Hence why it’s likely that interactive radio will overtake on-demand streaming or mobile download services in the near future, since you dodge the issue of licensing. There’s also the question of the technology catching up – which it will do, we’re just not quite there yet. For example, the wonderful Spotify apparently have an iPhone app in development, but they can’t cache enough data to counteract 3G connection issues. So not there yet – but round the corner.

Wired also suggest that after 10 years of moving away from programmed music to on-demand, we may turn back to letting someone else do the work for a change. I’m not sure I agree – I don’t doubt that licensing issues will mean interactive radio will take over in the short-term, but I’m not sure that it’ll remain the front runner once licensing deals are finally hammered out, because I reckon the power of personalisation will be too great.

That said, here’s some tasty food for thought:

1. Interactive radio on your phone can replace your MP3 player on some days

Now that interactive radio has gone mobile, you can listen to a mix of stuff you know and fresh material from artists you’re probably going to like, thanks to the “Heart” and “Ban” buttons that let you hone the artist-based stations these services let you create. Even better, you can do all of this using the same profile you’ve already been honing on Pandora, Last.fm, imeem, or wherever.

2. You’ll pay for music in subtle ways

Most of the interactive radio services mentioned above offer free and paid versions of the service. Paying the fee gets rid of ads, lets you skip more songs, and so on. For the labels, this represents a new, attractive way to get users to pay for music.

Next in line are cell carriers. “Will flat-rate data plans be profitable enough if a significant number of users start using such services?”asked Michael Gartner, senior vice president of media research for Gartner.

3. The streaming services you customise for your phone will spread to other areas of your home

Once you’ve started accessing interactive radio on your phone, the next step will be your other electronics. Slacker is already on Sony Bravia television sets, and the company says it will announce similar partnerships in the future.

Gracenote, which provides a service for Omnifone that lets it replicate your computer’s music collection in its mobile music service, will help Omnifone expand its service to other devices, according to Stephen White, vice president of product and content management for Gracenote.

4. You’ll still use an MP3 player from time to time, but it will have mobile phone-like features

For exercising, swimming, and other activities during which you wouldn’t want to carry a $400 phone, dedicated music players are still the way to go. But these devices will learn from cellphones by providing connectivity and cached interactive stations. Not only will the phone eat the music player, in other words, but the music player will also eat the cellphone.

5. Music blogs will programme internet radio stations

Music blogs already dictate taste on the internet, and interactive mobile radio providers that want to attract the most users during this critical mass adoption stage may want to tap recognizable brands and people to program stations. I suspect that a day when music blogs, magazines and other sorts of taste influencers start offering their own radio applications powered by these larger streaming services isn’t far off. Coming to a smartphone near you: Pitchfork’s latest picks. You get the picture.