December 24, 2005
Crazy Frog makes £40m
The Crazy Frog ringtone has made more than £40 million this year, complains The Times.
It was the year’s best-selling ringtone, taking 31% of the British ringtones market, now worth £133 million.
The ringtone market is now worth more than double the value of CD single sales, excluding internet downloads. Novelty tracks are most popular with the 5 to 15-year-olds who drive the ringtone market. Sweetie Chick’s Tweet Tweet, another animal offering from the company that licensed the Frog, was the year’s second-biggest selling ringtone. Mobile music is expected to generate £4 billion worldwide.
The artists best placed to benefit are those which combine music and visuals. Gorillaz enjoyed two of the year’s best-selling ringtones with Feel Good Inc and Dare in the Mobile Entertainment Forum chart.
Next year record companies will introduce “truetone”, incorporating music and videos, in partnership with mobile companies. Publishers are scouring back catalogues to revive old tracks in a new format. Mark Summerfield, KPMG music and entertainment partner, said: “Predictions indicating that the ringtone market will grow next year by around 7 per cent show the continued importance of this revenue source for artists and record companies.”
The Crazy Frog was downloaded 11 million times across Europe this year, boosted by a £3 million television advertising campaign.
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