Ringtones raise money for charities

On April 28, Sweet Relief Musicians Fund began a three-month fund-raising campaign focusing on selling master ringtones donated by Pearl Jam, Jars of Clay and OK Go, among others. Fans text the word "heal" to a short code dedicated to each ringtone to receive the download in exchange for a $5 charge to their phone bill.

... "Amnesty International also plans to extend the Make Some Noise effort to include mobile full-track and ringtone downloads.

Mobile content developer Airborne Entertainment has created an entire suite of mobile content focused on socially conscious themes called Just Cause." [via SThe Washington Post]

Other fund raising schemes involving ringtones:

-- Ringtone as a gift - after a donation to the Red Cross

-- Links to ringtones which raised funds for tsunami relief

-- Downloading ringtones to raise money

-- Ringtones raise money for schools

Shakira Announces Concert Tour

On the US leg of Shakira's world tour this summer, Verizon Wireless subscribers will be able to use their cell phones to receive video clips and vote for their favorite songs. "It's gonna be really exciting to see my fans interact," she said. "They'll get videos, messages from me, it's interesting."

[via Associated Press]

Virgin Mobile launches Bites with Musiwave

Virgin Mobile has partnered with Musiwave.com for the launch of its Virgin Mobile Bites app, a slew of "fun, cheeky and irreverent Bite-sized boredom busters" that include downloadable full-length digital music tracks and videos. FierceMoCo

"Musiwave provides subscribers to the service with more than 400,000 music tracks and videos from artists like Robbie Williams, Coldplay and Beyonce.

Two of the other features for the app are called "Dancing Dads" and "Bites Boy." Dancing Dads features user-generated content of, you guessed it, dancing dads. Viewers then vote for the grooviest dad dancer. Ugh. Bites Boy "is a character that will do anything asked of him by Virgin Mobile customers, no matter how wild or outrageous. "

Sony Ericsson Mobizine

Refresh Mobile has partnered with Sony Ericsson to launch a music based Mobizine – available to users of any phone on any network – to promote their new new Walkman phone - the W8101, reports Big Picture Advertising.

"The Mobizine is called "Soundtrack to your life" and features a wide range of music content which is updated daily.

Virtually anyone with a java enabled phone can download Mobizines and there is no cost to the user other than a few pence for the data charges on each update - and as the content is cached it can be read on the tube..."

Skype dabbling in music downloads

Skype struck a deal Tuesday that will bring the sounds of Madonna and potentially thousands of other artists as ringtones to people who use the company's Internet phone-calling software. [via the Mercury News]

"Ringtone versions of songs from the entire EMI Music Publishing library -- including titles from Green Day, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Isley Brothers -- will be available for download from the Personalise Skype store starting today."

Related articles on Skype and other ringtone deals:

-- Warner Music, Skype team up on ringtones

-- "Personalise Skype"

-- Skype's Big Idea: Ringtones?

Motorola Mixes Ringtones and Videos Online

Motorola has unveiled StudioMOTO, a free online music studio that lets users create their own ringtones and videos for their cell phone, reports Mobiledia.

"Visitors can also mix and match footage from select artists to produce their own mobile video clips.

Using multimedia messages and StudioMOTO, users can send mobile postcards containing a combination of text, music, video and animation."

Mobile music a cell-out in India

"Partly helped by illegitimate downloads and partly because it has become an outright fad, mobile music is set to overtake legal conventional music in India in the next few months", according to Physorg.com.

"According to the Cellular Operators' Association of India, the mobile telecom lobby, the size of the mobile music industry which is about $115 million now, is set to touch $170 million by this year end, exceeding revenues of the conventional music industry like compact disks and audio cassettes by about $5 million.

"The mobile music downloads is growing at a scorching pace -- over 50 percent a year," said TV Ramachandran, secretary general of COAI, "whereas growth of legal conventional music is stagnating."

Mariah Rings Up Pepsi

Mariah Carey has teamed up with Pepsi to write and produce 20 original voice and music ringtones for release this summer, reports E! Online.

"Carey will also star in a national commercial promoting the Pepsi Cool Tones & Motorola Phones partnership as part of her endorsement deal. "

Interesting stats from the Times Online

Interesting stats from the Times Online.

-- The mobile phone music sector will be worth £6.1 billion in 2010, Informa Media and Telecoms predicts

-- Phones accounted for nearly 40 per cent of international digital music sales last year

-- Crazy Frog was Britain’s best-selling ringtone last year, generating revenues of £40 million

-- The operator 3 sold one million song downloads accesible by both phone and PC at £1.50 each within four months

-- Roaming data charges can force up the price of a £1.50 single track to £14 if downloaded in Spain

-- In Japan, 99 per cent of digital music downloads are to mobile phones rather than to a computer

Abba ringtones

The Abba group has agreed to release their music as ringtones. [via Times Online]

"Money, Money, Money, Dancing Queen, Ring Ring and Thank You for the Music are among the hits that will be made available as full-track “truetones” under the deal with Universal Music.

... It took years of negotiations for the pair to agree a deal with global mobile operators, including Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Orange and the Japanese operator NTT DoCoMo."

Mobile-Music Boom in China

The exploding popularity of mobile music in China is boosting revenue for Chinese cellphone providers and Internet companies and helping fuel a run-up in their share prices, reports the WSJ

Interesting" The most popular form of mobile music in China are ring-back tones, and Wireless-music services in China are estimated to have generated US$247 million in revenue last year"

Bacardi B Live Radio available via cell phones

Beverage giant Bacardi has unveiled plans for a worldwide Internet radio station called Bacardi B Live Radio that will be available online and via mobile phones, reports Reuters.

"The station will primarily stream dance music -- with exclusive mixes provided by popular DJs -- and live streams from Bacardi-sponsored concerts and events.

The music industry is jumping at the chance to participate as the sponsoring brands not only bankroll the creation of new services that more widely distribute music and expose artists, but also pay labels licensing fees to access content.

Bacardi is spending as much as $40 million to fund the online and mobile radio station."

Wake-up Tones Call out your Name

Australia.mobilecontentworld.net have launched their range of wake-up name tones. Available in English, French, Germand and Norwegian.

All you have to do is to set your alarm on your mobile phone for the time that you want to get up. At that particular time, you will wake up to someone calling your name. You can create this type of custom ring tone and download the same to your phone through SMS, EMS, MMS messages and wireless Internet. [Press Release]

Ringtones: The sound of money

The music industry may be in a state of flux but artists and record labels are hoping ringtones can help boost overall sales. CNNMoney reports.

"U.S. ringtone sales totaled $500 million last year and should increase to $600 million this year, according to data from songwriter and music publisher trade group BMI. Globally, ringtone sales were $4.4 billion last year, according to Billboard, up from $3.7 billion in 2004.

By comparison, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) said that sales of physical CDs, cassettes and videos fell 7.6 percent last year.

... EMI Group, one of the world's largest music companies, said that mobile music sales increased nearly 140 percent during the first six months of its most recent fiscal year.

Passing fad or ringing in sales for the next few years?

But one wireless analyst said he's not sure how much longer the music industry can depend on strong growth in ringtone sales.

... "People that were enthusiastically buying ringtones are now buying phones that can play MP3 files. That may help to sweep ringtones aside. I'm not saying ringtones will vanish but I don't see huge growth," David Chamberlain, principal analyst with tech consulting firm In-Stat said.

Back from vacation

Back from vacation! Something is off with e-mail, last message received dates back to April 6. If you have tried to contact me, please try again. Apologies for the inconvenience.

Robbie Williams mobile phone

To coincide with the start of his latest tour, Robbie Williams has teamed up with Sony Ericcson and T-Mobile to launch the Robbie Williams special edition W300i handset, reports Pocket-lint.

It is the first time an artist has been directly involved in the design of a phone and is also the first pre-pay Walkman handset launched in the UK.

The clamshell handset will pre-loaded with a range of previously unreleased content - including a "live" video clip, wallpapers and the opening song from his concert. A Robbie Williams logo is embossed on the back cover, and two additional Robbie Williams skins personalise the phone. Fans will have direct access to the WAP site of RobbieWilliams.com on their phone and will see a Robbie Williams video clip when they start and shut down the handset. The Special Edition W300 will be available in all of T-Mobile European markets in June.

In addition, the signature phone will feature a standard Robbie Williams ringtone and a live Robbie Williams sound-byte for the SMS tone.

First band to release a single by phone

Planet Funk will next month release a single exclusively via mobile phones, reports The Guardian.

The band are the latest to eschew the traditional route of slogging around provincial radio stations and record stores to attract a following in favour of building a profile digitally.

The mobile network will this week continue its campaign of premiering videos on its handsets with a new Pet Shop Boys promo for new single I'm With Stupid that features the comedians Matt Lucas and David Walliams. It said an increasing number of singles were being sold via mobile downloads and already accounted for nearly 4% of the singles chart. Altogether, the mobile network claims to have sold more than 16m music video or song downloads over the past two years.

As the cost of downloading becomes more realistic and mobile handsets become more sophisticated, analysts predict an increase in the number of people looking to download tracks directly to their phone.

Cingular, MySpace, InfoSpace join as ringtone providers

Cingular Wireless, InfoSpace and MySpace.com have teamed up to allow undiscovered talents to create and sell their own ringtones, writes The Seattle Times.

The service, called Cingular Mobile Music Studio, allows bands with MySpace profiles to turn their music into a ringtone, even if they don't have a record contract. The ringtone is then sold on the band's profile page to help promote its music and to make money.

The MySpace service will work a bit like "American Idol." The artists will submit their songs; a panel of judges will determine whether the content is original, and then turn it into a ringtone. Artists will then be able to link to the ringtone from their MySpace profile. The ringtone will cost the standard $2.50, with 25 percent of the proceeds going to the artist. InfoSpace will also get a share; MySpace will not.

Artists will receive checks quarterly as long as the money exceeds $100. If the minimum is not reached, the money will roll over to the next period. The studio service is considered a beta launch, while all the parties involved begin to understand how it may catch on.

Radio firm offers phone downloads

UK radio group Chrysalis is to test a scheme where songs played on the stations can be downloaded to mobile phones, announces BBC News.

The 100 participants in the two-month trial can choose to buy any song they hear, with MP3 copies being sent to their phone and their home computer.

UBC's chief executive Simon Cole said: "If you press 'Buy' when you're listening to James Blunt on Heart, the file is immediately added to your library in the phone. "The server also pushes a 128-kilobyte version of the song to your home account so it's also on your computer waiting to be put on your iPod. We think people will be willing to pay a premium for that level of service."

If launched commercially (probably in December), the service would be likely to have a subscription, plus an unspecified fee per download.

Limited edition music phone for travellers

Nokia Scandinavia and WESC are launching a special edition of the new music-mobile Nokia 3250. The phone will be manufactured in 500 copies and will ship with specially selected content and accessories.

The handset has been packed in a Limited Edition Travel Kit and comes with a memory card and a digital version of the WESC Travel Guide. In the guide We-activists Jason Lee (actor), Peter Stormare (actor) and DJ Stretch Armstrong (New York DJ) among which give their tips on the best restaurants, the hottest clubs and the best fast-food places in several major cities around the world. The package also contains other tools for the trip such as passport-case, eye-mask, printed travel guide from WESC, headphones from Sennheiser as well as a spare skateboard wheel from Stereo Skateboards.

To make use of the time one spends while waiting for the flight, the bus or the train and to be able to access favourite music on the beach, Nokia 3250 WESC Limited Edition will also ship with 40 preloaded songs.

By turning the Nokia 3250 keyboard 180 degrees, the user can easily switch between the music controls and the telephone buttons.

[via dexigner]

Billboard to chart ringtones

Music market tracker Billboard will start publishing a chart ranking the best-selling master ringtones, audio snippets derived from original studio recordings and used to customize mobile phones, writes CNN News.

The chart, dubbed Hot MasterTones, will be based on data compiled by Nielsen Mobile and represent the top 20 best-selling master ringtones for the week. Included in the chart will be the song title, artist, previous week's ranking and number of weeks on the chart.

The weekly publication began publishing a chart for monophonic and polyphonic ringtones -- song samples based on synthesized versions of recordings -- in 2004. But since then, master ringtones have become an increasingly important slice of recording industry sales, particularly in the United States.

The U.S. ringtone market is expected to exceed $600 million in sales this year, up from $500 million last year, according to BMI. Billboard estimates global ringtone sales racked up $4.4 billion in 2005, up from $3.7 billion the previous year. Much of that growth was due to sales of master ringtones, according to the magazine.

The ringtone is the new bumper sticker

Religious ringtones -- and ringback tones -- are growing in popularity throughout the world amongst people of faith, informs National Ledger.

Whether it is gospel music, or a Contemporary Christian, chart-topping hit, or the tones of a muezzin calling out five prayer times a day, mobile carriers are offering religious-based ringtones.

Even the secular humanists seem to be getting into the trend. "We have a whole series of socially responsible ring tones -- with anti-poverty and anti-animal cruelty themes," Andy Nulman, from ringtone developer Airborne Entertainment. "The ringtone is the new bumper sticker, or the new protest sign, raising your message above the crowd, letting them know what you think."

Next week, socially responsible themed ringtones, called "Just Cause", will be launched at a trade show for the cellular industry, said Nulman, noting that the message of one of the ringtones is, "Every 3.6 seconds, someone dies of hunger."

Overseas, the trend is growing too. In the UK a Christian text-messaging service called UCB Mobile sends prayers by SMS to the faithful, as well as receives prayer requests. Another firm, based in Dubai, developed a mobile phone, which included a compass, to tell the owner which direction to turn to pray to Mecca. Another provider has developed a mobile-phone service for Orthodox Jews in Israel, which garnered some attention recently during the election for a successor for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

A study showed that belief-oriented services may be particularly popular among 13- to 18-year-olds. "The pessimism of Generation X and the exuberant self-reliance of early Gen Y has given way to a new ethos," said the Energy BBDO study of 3,322 teenagers in 13 countries spanning the globe.

Ringtone sales expected to pass $600M in 2006

BMI estimates that the retail sales of ringtones will pass the $600 million mark, an increase of 20 percent from sales in 2005, reports Nashville Business Journal.

BMI pegged the ringtone market at $245 million in 2004 and $68 million in 2003. The organization's estimates are based on more than 360 million individual ringtone transactions it has analyzed over the past seven quarters. BMI tracks census sales data on more than 325 outlets for the sale of mobile entertainment in the United States.

"We also see 2006 as the make or break year for the ringback tone market, which is still in the novelty phase in the United States," said Richard Conlon, from BMI. "Additional music-based revenues should be realized from mobile subscription music services, which have just begun U.S. roll out."

BMI has tracked and processed more than 360 million individual ringtone sales by title, artist, and gross retail revenues generated since 2001. The organization uses the data to distribute public performance royalties on a pro-rated basis to its affiliated songwriters, composers and music publishers.

Major ringtone auction takes on classical tunes

U.S.A. first major ringtone auction will put original tunes by classical U.S. composers up for sale, reports Arizona Republic.

Organized by the American Composers Orchestra to raise money for its young-composer and educational programs, the auction offers miniworks written expressly for cellular phone by 10 artists. Among them are already established composers such as Philip Glass and Laurie Anderson, Danny Elfman and emerging talent Jason Freeman.

Each will conceive one 20- to 30-second ringtone. The bids, which start at $100, may be placed online from April 10 to May 5.

"Everyone can get a Beyonce ringtone for a buck or so," said Barbara Burch, director of development at the non-profit group. "But just one person in the world will have the ringtone by Philip Glass. This is a collectible ringtone."

"We still see the dominance of rap, R&B, alternative, punk and pop," said Drew Hull, research director of mobile content at NPD Group. "But we are definitely seeing growth in jazz and classical music."

Almost non-existent three years ago, ringtones in those genres now make up about 5 percent of the market. The participation of big names in the auction is a sign "that this market is growing and becoming part of the mainstream," Hull added. "You have famous classical composers, whom you won't associate with the teenager market, becoming involved, and it's not looked down upon."