November 27, 2003
Mobile tones ring in the changes
The BBC has just published an good article on ring back tones.
"It is going to be huge with those keen to spice up their mobiles when it hits Europe next year, forecasted Simon Buckingham from research firm Mobile Streams.
"I certainly think that the ring-back tone service is going to be very, very popular," Mr Buckingham said. And he should know, because he is the mobile phone guru who made his fortune from text messages and ringtones.
"You have to take account local market requirements, but people want to personalise their mobile and this is a new way to personalise your ringtone inside the phone as well as outside it."
The main difference will be the way that people pay for it. In Europe, most people pay per ring tone download, said Mr Buckingham. But in South Korea, there is minimal $1 subscription per month to pay, then dial tones cost about 60 cents on top.
They are then loaded onto the network rather than the mobile itself so there are no problems with phone compatibility.
Through partnerships with 20 different content providers, and having negotiated the tricky license deals directly with music labels, subscribers can choose from an array of local and global hits from a library of 30,000.
"Unlike ringtones it is real music," said Mr Kim. It is almost like the operator becomes the DJ by picking the tune list. I could pick out the top 25 music hits and put it on a net environment and the user picks what they want."
It could mean new ways of buoying up flagging single sales for music labels, by offering bundles of mobile content for dial and ring tones, as well as mobile wallpaper of particular artistes.
Currently in trials with major European and US networks, the service should be available in Europe by next year."
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