December 9, 2003
Chaku-uta
Justin Hall for TheFeature.com, has a very interesting article describing the success of KDDI Japan's Chaku-uta MP3 ringtone service, enabling users to download real music to their mobile phones, then set the music up as a ringtone. 20,000 to 30,000 songs are downloaded daily from the KDDI site and the number of users with chaku-uta capable phones is now around 100,000.
"A number of large record labels in Japan set up Label Mobile, an umbrella company to sell digital rights to their music catalogs. Label Mobile has been an integral partner for KDDI's chaku-uta, coordinating rights to songs and providing Chaku-uta for downloading. According to Maede, Label Music approved this innovative service only after KDDI guaranteed technological protection from the spread of mobile file sharing. KDDI has encoded the downloaded music files to prevent sharing of music between handsets, and so far their system hasn't been cracked.
But the concept is catching on; KDDI is seeing some fresh "Chaku-uta" competition. Last week, Vodaphone Japan launched a competitor service, and DoCoMo plans to launch something similar early next year.
And interesting, Justin Hall points out that
"Ringtones have been fabulously popular for users and a great windfall for carriers and mobile entrepreneurs alike.
Acquiring the rights to a melody is easier than acquiring the rights to tracks on a CD. According to analysts with Music Media Watch, record labels are glad to see chaku-uta type technology return control of hit music to their star-making machines. Soon, we should see (and hear) MP3 ringtones appear alongside major media campaigns promoting musicians. It's a brilliant scheme for disseminating hits - ask people to pay for the privilege of playing your song in cafes, in their bedrooms and boardrooms."
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