Ring tones are on track to stay with us a while

An interesting article from the IHT on the (booming) ringtone business.

"The sounds of a cellphone ringing and cash register chiming might as well be the same these days. An estimated $4 billion of 30-second tones and other melodies for mobile phones was sold last year, according to Consect, the New York-based mobile consulting and analysis company that prepares Billboard's weekly chart.

Most of that was in Europe, with $1.5 billion in ring-tone revenue, the company estimated, and only $300 million came from the United States, with most of the rest from Asia. Still, the U.S. figure was double that of 2003.

[...\ Now, with the advance of tones that are genuine clips from a commercial hit, performed by the original musicians, there is another party entitled to part of the ring-tone payment: the record label, which owns a song's performance rights.

Already, so-called master ring tones, also called true tones or real tones, are commanding prices of £3.50, or $6.60, on O2 in Britain, for instance. The Lagardère unit, called BlingTones, is selling its original hip-hop tones for $2.49 each through four wireless carriers in the United States.

"Ringbacks" - tones that play while you are waiting for someone to answer the mobile phone - are retailing for €1 to €3 plus a monthly charge. Voice tones - with celebrities or impersonators announcing a phone call - are similarly priced. And the video versions of music and voice tones are not expected to be any cheaper.

A few skeptics within the industry have asked whether ring tones are a fad, a bubble that will soon burst. But they are in the minority. Most other people say that ring tones, like text messaging by cellphone, are a lasting part of the culture.

It is this assumption that is spurring companies like Consect to forecast an $8 billion global ring tone industry within a few years."

Christian Ringtones

According to Chris Cole, chief executive of the Christian radio station Cross Rhythms, "young Christians in the UK are buying polyphonic ringtones of their favourite Christian artists as religious rock takes up modern technology". [via an article in The Guardian on rock stars and faith]

Related articles:

-- Divine Calling - A mobile ringtone service offering top hits of the contemporary Christian music, gospel and worship genre.

-- Ave Maria ringtone - To inspire users into contemplation, the Roman Catholic church in Holland offers religious ringtones. Users can select from 15 different ringtone-hymns, including Ave Maria and Salve Regina.

Ringtones parade in Germany

A mobile ringtones parade will be launched in Germany next April.

It will be presented on the magazine "Musikwoche" thanks to the cooperation with the Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF). The German top-twenty follows the steps of a same initiative launched last year in the UK.

reBlogged from Adverblog.

Mobile portal for music labels launched

Mobile content specialist company New-Visions has launched a subscription-free web and WAP service that sells mobile music content direct to the consumer, reports Netimperative.

"In addition to offering official content, the “Official Mob” service will offer direct links to artists' official websites.

OffocialMob will sell official ringtones, realtones and wallpapers for labels, including EMI Music labels along with V2 Music and Sanctuary Records.

The site will carry artist- and label-endorsed content, helping labels to directly connect artists to consumers through their mobile phones. For labels, Official Mob serves to protect their assets while creating revenue: adding value to the artist and their physical release promotions."

Virtual 3G Disco, a New Way to Deliver Music to Phones

Hong Kong based Artificial Life, Inc. who already brought us us the virtual girlfriend - an online dating game featuring a cyber dream girl that can be wooed and won via a 3G phone - announced that it will release the world's first virtual disco for 3G phones as a new mobile product line, according to a company press release.

The 3G virtual disco is presented to the users as a 3-D animated virtual building with several floors representing different music clubs and styles of music according to the selection and tastes of the listeners. In the intro sequence the user can select an animated 3-D character (avatar) as his or her virtual persona and visit the different music rooms in the virtual disco.

Music is offered for download or streaming in combination with high quality 3-D animation clips showing synchronized dancing avatars.

the Crazy Frog mobile phone ringtone

The BBC writes about a UK fad I'd never heard of, the Crazy Frog, whose ringtone, is making a fortune! Cick here to listen

"The sight of a strange blue-grey frog with a helmet and goggles, revving up an imaginary motorbike while making an infuriating "ding ding dididing" noise, is familiar to much of the country. In fact to most of them it's too familiar... far, far too familiar.

Adverts for the Crazy Frog mobile phone ringtone have played hundreds of times on certain TV channels over the Past few weeks; it has earned an estimated £10m, and according to the company selling it, is the most successful ringtone in the world. Now a dance mix has been recorded and played on Chris Moyles's Radio 1 breakfast show.

PhoneBites "interrupt tones"

San Francisco start-up Phonebites, a company that allows people to "razz" others by injecting sound clips into their phone conversations, said last week it has raised a first round of $3 million in financing, reports SiliconBeat via Techdirt.

So it seems "interrupt tones" may have a future, at least amongst teenagers.

"Its patent-pending RAZZ technology allows tech-savvy teenagers and others to download audio clips found online and elsewhere -- into phone conversations, thereby impressing, or annoying their interlocutors.

We dread what will come: Eager CEOs interrupting a conference call to play a snippet from Martin Luther King's rousing "I've been to the MountainTop" speech, to inspire the troops, or a teenage relative slipping in a high-decibel "I love you" from their latest favorite pop single?"

Related articles:

-- Making the call as silly as the ring tone

-- ”Bushisms” Become the Latest Cell Phone Craze as Consumers Get the “Presidential Razz”

Midem Mobile Music Forum Report

Just who is buying all of those ringtones and downloads through their phones? A knee-jerk reaction seems to always point to the younger buyer, though many close to the space are seeing activity from the older buyer, reports Digital Lifestyle.

"During one of the mobile music panels, Martin Peronnet (Content Director, Mobile/i-mode division of French operator Bouygues Telecom) declared that 15% of his customers are in the 35 -40 age bracket. That is a total of one million customers, with many among the most active subscribers.

Others revealed similar data, with Universal Mobile Chairman Cédric Ponsot announcing the launch of a series of oldies realtones, based on major hits from the 60s. Clearly, ringtones aren`t just for kids.

More Ringtone Charts

Following the success of the first official ringtone chart launched in the UK in June 2004, MEF is to roll out the chart in Germany in April, with other European territories to follow, reports Mike Grenville for 160chracters.org.

"The first German ringtone chart, reflecting all ringtone formats, is expected to be published by Musikwoche, the German music industry's weekly trade magazine, in April 2005."

Sour notes jar hopes for cellphone music transfers

A dozen or so ventures in Europe and the United States are experimenting with ways to download high-quality audio files over cellular networks to the world's more than 2 billion mobile phones, reports the IHT.

"But the business is stalled in a land-grab of commercial interests, with cellphone carriers, handset makers, musicians, record labels and other copyright holders fighting over control of the customer and how big their piece of the mobile music pie should be.

Each company is trying a different approach, unsure about which will generate the most revenue for the most number of players. Some use a separate service to organize the music selection. Others are cutting out the middleman and turning into music retailers themselves. Motorola, meanwhile, is planning to offer a phone with iTunes software this spring, essentially cutting out the cellphone carrier.

Technology is not considered a hurdle, for a change; the mobile phone makers say it takes few additional electronic components to add stereo sound to a phone, and the speed of current networks is adequate to move compressed music files over the airwaves quickly without frustrating the end user."

Plugging The Gaps In The Mobile Music Market

Although record labels seem to be embracing and supporting the mobile music market, they still have a lot of doubts and concerns. Normally, the Internet can provide some guidance as to what may or may not work in the mobile industry, but for the record labels, the lessons from the Internet are still far from clear. A must read article to TheFeature.com.

[...] "Another potential threat to mobile music has been that users would download music onto their mobiles directly from their PCs. The record labels want to ensure that mobile music is distributed over the air."

'80s pop star crafts cell phone jingles

Ethan Smith for the WSJ has a very interesting article on how some "post peak rock stars" looking to stay in the music business, are successful writing original ringtones.

Thomas Dolby hasn't had a hit song since 1983, when "She Blinded Me With Science" reached No. 5 on the Billboard singles chart. But the British-born musician still earns his living making music -- writing ditties with titles like "Tropical 2," "Groove" and "Jazzy," to name just a few of Dolby's compositions that have become ringtones for cell phones.

The fad for ringtones based on pop hits is well-known, making the ringers a $2.2 billion business world-wide. But for some artists, including a growing number of current ones, original ringtones are a growth market, too.

In addition to relatively anonymous efforts like those of Dolby, at least one new company is betting that consumers will actually pay for an original ringtone composed by a name-brand artist or producer.

French media and technology company Lagardere SCA recently launched Bling Tones, a U.S. division that signs artists for the purpose of having them write original ringtones.

Until just a few years ago, a musician in Dolby's position -- post-peak rock star looking to stay in the music business -- would likely earn his living writing advertising jingles.

But with more advertising campaigns using familiar hit music instead of jingles, cell phones are the primary market for anonymous, behind-the-scenes musical compositions.

Although ringtones are typically just 30 seconds long, compared with three minutes for the average pop song, Dolby says there are similarities between composing pop songs and ringtones.

"It's helpful if it's catchy," he says of the ringtones. And, he concludes, whether one is writing a pop song or a ringtone, "A hook is a hook is a hook."

He estimates he's written "a couple of hundred" of these generic ringers, for Nokia Corp., Motorola Inc. and Sony Ericsson, a joint venture between Japan's Sony Corp. and Sweden's Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson, among others.

Russian mobile operator offers mobile Kamasutra voice tales

The Hindustan Times reports that Russia's largest GSM operator Mobile Tele Systems has launched a new adult service enabling subscribers to "master new sensations" and "listen to passages from the Kamasutra - the ancient Indian art of love and erotic awareness."

"The 24-hour service, charged at the rate of fifty cents per minute plus 18 per cent VAT, costs subscribers almost five times the amount charged for regular calls."

Take the zing out of your ring

This is the first time I've heard of an officer/manager requesting that his employees adopt normal ringtones. It happened in India.

According to Delhi Newsline, Delhi Police Commissioner KK Paul has asked his men to revert to the normal ring tones and not test his patience.

‘‘What is the need to have these tunes? These mobile phones have been give by the government. You do what you want with your private phones and won't be any objection to it but here we have serious things to talk about,'' Paul told Newsline."

Ringtone Market

I stumble on Ringtone Market by chance. May be useful to some of Ringtonia's readers.

Here you'll find professional musicians and composers (indexed by alaphabet or by country), capable of writing any ringtone from scratch or from a given source.

Legal Music Downloads Increase Tenfold

The recording industry reports a tenfold increase in the number of people legally downloading music from the Internet and the first significant revenues brought in by digital sales, reports the Associated Press.

"The IFPI said Wednesday that music fans in the United States and Europe legally downloaded more than 200 million tracks in 2004, up from about 20 million in 2003.

[...] Music on mobile phones is also becoming increasingly popular, with Asia leading the way -- the Japanese ring tone market was worth $100 million in 2004.

Boost Mobile Ringtones for Tsunami Relief

Nextel's Boost Mobile.com is next in line to have put together a selection of ringtones to raise funds for children affected by the tsunami disaster in Southern Asia.

Boost will donate all the proceeds from the sale of the selected ringtones to the United Nations International Children's Fund (UNICEF).

The ringtones available include U2's "One," Destiny's Child's "Survivor," Sarah McLachlan's "Angel," and more. The catalog is available for two months, and around $1 will be donated to UNICEF for each downloaded ringtone.

Related campaigns:

-- Bell Canada offers ringtones for Tsunami Relief

-- «Tsunami Aid Ringtones» from Zaptophone

-- Ringtone Provider offers charity ringtones only

-- Roundup of tsunami relief SMS fund raising campaigns around the world

-- Links to all Tsunami/cell phone stories posted in Textually.org.

Jenna Jameson "moantones"

Jenna Jameson, the world's best known sex icon, has teamed up with technology developer Wicked Wireless to provide Latin American cell phone users with "moantones" and other steamy content. [viaMobileMag]

More moantones:

-- moantones.com

-- «moantones»

The Mobile Phone as Digital Music Player

A very interesting analysis by J@pan.inc of the current capabilities of handsets in Japan, and how they compare to standalone music/MP3 players in the market…all to answer the question: just how big a threat are these devices to makers of dedicated music players? [via MocoNews]

"The verdict: “Given the choice of using a PC/player combination versus downloading songs straight to the phone, the average Japanese consumer is more likely to go for the latter, even if it means having fewer songs on the player.”

Instant Radio Feedback From Your Cell Phone

All About Mobile Life reported on Sunday that Nokia is set to introduce mobile phone technology that allows listeners to send instant feedback on songs to radio stations, as well as compete in contests.

"The new phones will have what is called "visual radio" capabilities, according to a Financial Times report. The new technology lets stations send information directly to listeners' mobile phone screens during a song, ranging from a picture of the artist to polls asking the listener to rate the song. Replies are instantaneously sent back to the station.

[...] Nokia's Reidar Wasenius told Financial Times: "This is a potential disrupter to the music industry business model. Rather than radio stations being paid rates based on the estimated number of listeners, they could pay stations based on how many copies of a song they sold. Radio stations could become more like retailers."

NEW MOBILE CONTENT SITE LAUNCHES WITH GIVEAWAY OF $30,000 IN RINGTONES, WALLPAPERS AND JAVA GAMES

BVRP Software is giving away some quality content (like ringtones from popular artists Britney Spears and Outkast) to mark the launch of the companyâs new mobile content web store: mobileffects.com/.

The first 10,000 visitors to register at Mobileffects.com can select free ringtones, wallpapers or java games from an extensive content library.

Mobileffects.com features a wide variety of content, including thousands of ringtones from popular artists like Britney Spears and Outkast, and 30 different categories of wallpapers, screensavers, images, video clips and mobile games. The site also allows mobile users to customize and send personal photos from their PC to their mobile phones.

Ringtones perking up the bottom line

Ringtones have exploded in popularity, generating an estimated $375 million in U.S. revenue last year, according to IDC, an information technology firm (via the Chicago Tribune). The year before: only $18 million. Worldwide sales are far bigger, particularly in Asia and Europe.

"We've gotten away from `Mission: Impossible' and the `Pink Panther' theme," says Adrian McAloon, executive director of content for Ztango, a U.S. wireless-services provider.

Snoop Dogg and Pharrell top the Jan. 1 Billboard ringtone charts, followed by Usher. Third place: Ciara with Missy Elliott.

Ringtones are becoming their own art form too. BlingTones has signed hip-hop artists and producers to create original 30-second "pieces". It calls itself the world's first wireless record label.

A personalized ring "is an identity statement," says Lewis Ward, an analyst with IDC. Many phones allow users to associate different songs with different callers. "It says something about you to yourself and to your peers."

And that's not all: ringbacks, those songs or noises other callers will hear when they're waiting for you to answer your phone, might give way to a similar frenzy.

Stereoringtones

Mobile portal Jamba is offering ringtones in stereo. The stereo sound of these ringtones is closer to that of a superior Hifi system than to the traditional peep of a mobile phone, according to a company press release.

"Jamba! offers more than 80 sounds with this improved stereo-quality level. By the end of the year, the number of stereo sounds on offer will increase to over 2000."

To sample this new sound experience can find this latest ringtone generation under Jamster in the "Real Music" category.

Bell Canada offers ringtones for Tsunami Relief

Bell Canada is joining the Canadian effort to raise money for victims of the Tsunami in southern Asia, by offering ringtones provided by ZaptoPhone.

"Download one of four new National Anthem ringtones and Bell will donate the proceeds to the Indian Ocean Earthquake Emergency Fund through UNICEF Canada."

Related:

-- «Tsunami Aid Ringtones» from Zaptophone

-- Ringtone Provider offers charity ringtones only

-- Roundup of tsunami relief SMS fund raising campaigns around the world

-- Links to all Tsunami/cell phone stories posted in Textually.org.

"Mobile Music Japan"

Excerpts from a new pay-for study by EuroTechnology on Mobile Music in Japan.

"It is safe to say, that there are more wireless music downloads of 20-30 second long "chaku uta" songs to mobile phones in Japan, then there are i-Tunes downloads on the wired internet.

This fact promises a fantastic success for the i-Tunes/Motorola cooperation.

Chaku-Uta-Full are full songs downloaded to mobile phones via KDDI/AU's 2.4 Mbps 3G mobile network.

Chaku-uta-full started on November 19, 2004 and achieved 1 million downloads within 48 days.

While polyphonic ringing tones (chaku-melo) have been developed to play 64 notes simultaneously, and have found many applications beyond pure ringing tones, the polyphonic ringtone (Chaku-melo) market in Japan is coming closer to saturation.

Ears and service providers' work and investors' attention are turning to MPEG

We project that mobile music has the potential to become a major, if not the major, music distribution channel in terms of value in Japan, replacing CDs and DVDs.

At the moment mobile music sales in Japan are around US$ 1 Billion/year. As DoCoMo's HSDPA services come online and more handsets are sold for full song downloads we expect a dramatic increase of mobile music sales.

Disney characters turn into ringtones

Disney Mobile, part of the Walt Disney Internet Group, is now offering consumers an extensive array of character voice ringtones featuring the voices of their most popular Disney and Disney/Pixar characters. The ringtones are currently available to customers of major carriers in the US for a fee of US$2.50 per ringtone, reports Geekzone.

"Ringtone voices from classic and popular characters including Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck, Pooh and Tigger, as well as newer characters such as Stitch, Woody, Buzz Lightyear and even Mr. Incredible."

Ringtone Provider offers charity ringtones only

Here is a ringtone provider which is non-profit, providing a platform from which consumers can purchase ringtones and other content for a variety of handsets whilst donating to charity and worthy causes. They have now just launched a Tsunami Earthquake Appeal. cf Company press release

"Mobile customers can purchase any content from Charity Rings and select the appropriate cause or charity they wish to donate to. 100% profit from all sales for the tsunami relief effort will be donated.

Charityrings.com have over 4000 items available for download from their extensive library of ringtones, graphics and games.

In their own words:

"Buying your ringtones, wallpapers, games etc. at CharityRings means that you pay the same or similar prices as other web sites. However with CharityRings you help charities to help others at the same time! Our content teams ensure that we always have the latest and coolest content.

If you would like to submit your cause or charity to CharityRings please contact us at www.charityrings.com"

Related: «Tsunami Aid Ringtones» from Zaptophone

New Digital Art project for creating, converting and sharing original

Use Freeloader to create your own mobile audio art!

Freeloader is a "do-it-yourself" ringtone creation and distribution environment. It is a commission by UK based FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology)
and created by Kisky Netmedia. It allows users to input MP3, MIDI and WAV
files and turn them into original ringtone content. The web application converts audio into ringtones suitable for over 350 phones allowing for playback of experimental work for a wide user group.

The project is set to develop its content in 2005 through pupils projects, artist lead workshops, and through input from remote users - anyone who wishes to experiment with their own mobile content.

If you are a sound artist, musician, composer, or mobile tone enthusiast, or just want a new original ringtone you may like to have a go at making your own tones using Freeloader. All submitted content should be original and copyright free and will be shared with the Freeloader community growing this resource of user-generated content.

Freeloader was developed as part of FACT's Stream and Shout Project.

reBlogged from Rhizome.

Survey: Ringtones, SMS top of the heap in 2004

A year-ender survey conducted by a Boston-based communications and networking research group revealed that ringtones and text messaging (or SMS) led the way in the upsurge of wireless data services in the US market in 2004, reports The Manila Bulletin Online.

The Mobile Music Forum 2005

The Mobile Music Forum 2005, taking place in London on the 8th & 9th March 2005, will bring together all the members of the value chain to provide strategic insight and case studies in order to better understand the direction this growing market will take. [by James Pearce for MocoNews]