January 31, 2005
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."
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