Communist Ringback Tones

State-controlled mobile service providers in China are offering communist ringback tone music, the tone that you hear while waiting for someone to pick up the line.

According to Trendhunter, the song played instead of the waiting tone is called ‘Guo Jia,’ which means ‘Country’ in Chinese.

These ringback tones were made to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Peoples Republic of China.

Can Mobile Music Apps Pick Up Where Ringtone Sales Left Off?

Ringtone sales cratered last year—and by the looks of the latest stats from Nielsen RingScan, 2009 will bring more of the same. Sales are already down 23 percent, per Billboard. Meanwhile, handset makers and wireless providers offer full-track downloads through various content platforms, but mobile music sales are still minimal.

So now the industry is starting to focus on music apps like Pandora, Spotify and Rhapsody, in the hopes that they’ll evolve into sustainable sources of revenue across the board—for the carriers, the platform providers, and the record labels, too. And there are a few reasons why the mobile music app business might fare better than ringtones in the long run.

Read full article in MocoNews.

Verizon pays $5m to ASCAP for ringtone "performances"

Verizon on Thursday took preemptive action and paid the music royalty group ASCAP $4.99 million as an "interim" license for cellular ringtones on its V CAST service. electronista reports.

The payment covers all ringtones bought since November 11th 2004 and is meant to temporarily settle the issue until the two settle a dispute over how much Verizon owes, if at all, for the short samples. It's unclear if the payment is reversible.

Read full article.

Lily Allen 'quits music' after abuse over file-sharing fight

Lily Allen has given up her fight against illegal file sharing and says she has quit the music business altogether after announcing on Twitter that "the abuse was getting too much". The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

This week, Allen launched a blog, "It's Not Alright", in which she slammed illegal downloading and threw her support behind plans by the British Government to disconnect music pirates from the internet.

Some of Britain's biggest musical stars - under the umbrella of the Featured Artists Coalition - had rejected the plan as being too draconian but Allen had the opposite view, saying file sharers were "cutting off income at the most crucial, cash-strapped point in [new artists'] careers".

However, she was soon mired in a copyright stoush of her own as a technology blog, Techdirt, accused her of reproducing parts of one of its articles on her blog without attribution.

Read full article.

Music piracy costs money; does fighting it cost more?

The major music labels say that they stand to lose £200 million this year in the UK alone thanks to Internet file-sharing. But one of the country's biggest ISPs is now slinging around some huge numbers of its own, saying it will actually cost ISPs £365 million a year to adopt "three strikes" rules meant to stem piracy.

[via ars technica]

Courtesy call

The things people write...

Ringtones, like flatulence, are best enjoyed in privacy. If you need to share it in a crowded public place, it should be with due embarrassment at what you're making those around you endure.

[via The Observer]

Apple Gets a Green Light to Block Palm From iTunes

Palm receives a response to its complaint about Apple's restrictions on its iTunes software -- though it was not the answer the company was hoping for.

[via The New York Times]

YouTube Now Hawking Click-to-Buy Ringtones

Along with overlaid affiliate links to buy MP3s on iTunes and Amazon, YouTube will now feature click-to-buy ringtones on top of videos that feature music from its content partners.

According to a YouTube spokesperson: “We’re constantly looking for innovative ways to offer users more content on YouTube, while providing partners with new opportunities to generate revenue.”

[via NewTeeVee]

More Declines for Music Ringtones

The music ringtone market is within the decline stage of its short life cycle, according to industry research firm IBISWorld. The company forecasts industry revenue to decline for the second consecutive year - down 15 percent from its $880 million peak in 2007 - totalling just $750 million in 2009. Cellular News reports.

Music ringtones practically boomed overnight, but with two consecutive years of decline it seems the industry is exiting just as rapidly as it entered," said Toon van Beeck, senior analyst with IBISWorld. "And with the ringtone market already reaching its decline stage, its life cycle is only expected to last about 15 years."

Earphones with capacitive sensing technology

Sony Ericsson has announced a pair of inner-ear headphones that know when you're using them. PC Pro reports.

According to Sony Ericsson, the MH907 headphones use capacitive technology to start the music when you insert both headphones into your ears.

Removing one of the earbuds will pause the music, while reinserting it will cause the music to resume - all without the need to touch the controller, which could be useful for those gasped conversations on the treadmill.

Read full article.

Elton John backs crackdown on music piracy

Illegal filesharing is dividing the music world with Lily Allen and Elton John taking issue with a group called the Featured Artists Coalition, who include Annie Lennox and Billy Bragg. The Guardian reports.

Sir Elton John has come out in support of measures to crack down on music piracy by cutting off the internet connections of persistent illegal filesharers.

In a letter to the business secretary, Lord Mandelson, he said: "I am of the view that the unchecked proliferation of illegal downloading (even on a "non-commercial" basis) will have a seriously detrimental effect on musicians, and particularly young musicians and those composers who are not performing artists."

The letter comes as talks to heal a growing rift in the music industry over piracy broke down today , with a group of artists including Pink Floyd's Nick Mason, Billy Bragg and Tom Jones accusing labels of stubbornness.

Read full article.

Music Score of birds on a wire

Birds on the Wires from Jarbas Agnelli on Vimeo.

A Brazilian musician has just completed a collaboration with an unusual partner: a large group of birds sitting on telephone wires. News.com reports.

According to the Daily Mail, Jarbas Agnelli saw a newspaper photo of a large flock of black birds sitting on the wires and recognized that their configuration looked very much like a musical score.

Starting from there, he arranged and recorded a composition, using xylophone, bassoon, oboe and clarinet and, of course, the notes laid out by the birds.

Songwriters want to get paid for 30-second song previews

Songwriters, composers, and music publishers are lobbying Congress to legislate the payment of performance fees into downloaded music. If music publishers get their way, they'll be able to extract additional licensing fees from music downloads, movies, and TV shows containing their music, and even 30-second previews.

[via ars technica]

Guruji.com Introduces Ringtone Search

Guruji.com, the Indian searche engine has ventured into finance, music, movie tickets earlier and now its the time for ringtones. Given the huge number of mobile penetration in India this might be a really good service. Guruji also has a search algorithm which they claim can comprehend the user intent; handle attached or detached versions of a word; understand phonetic variations as well as capture more advanced variations of a word which are not captured through the phonetic approach.

Read WatBlog's interview of Anurag Dod, CEO of Guruji.com to know more about Guruji’s plans.

Sony Ericsson teases with mystery microsite

Sony Ericsson has launched a new teaser site where it claims to be re-inventing music as we know it.

[via TechRadar]

Can Apple Reinvigorate The Ringtone Market?

Apple has changed the way consumers buy ringtones from the company, bringing into question whether the largest digital music-retailer in the U.S. can breathe new life into the ailing mobile content category. MocoNews reports.

... Previously, Apple charged 99 cents to convert songs that consumers already owned on iTunes into ringtones, but experience was clunky and not available on the phone or accessible beyond the U.S., said an Apple executive at last week’s event.

Apple has a number advantages. Not only will the ringtones be integrated directly into iTunes on the phone, it also will be tied to user’s iTunes accounts. Convenience could be key. Price is also a factor. Often ringtones cost up to three to five times as much as a full-track song. In the early days, the prices soared mostly because consumers were willing to pay more, and because they had no way to convert songs they already owned. While that’s changed, prices have stayed artificially high because ringtone royalties paid to artists have been set higher than full-track royalties. At $1.29, you could consider it a bargain.

Filesharing crackdown divides UK music industry

Coalition of artists says moves to suspend offenders' broadband connections are like 'cracking a nut with a sledgehammer'. The Guardian reports.

Vringo, Marvel team-up on super hero-themed video ringtones

Vringo and Marvel announced a partnership to create and distribute mobile videos and video ringtones based on Marvel’s superheroes. IntoMobile reports.

Initially, the online store features footage and pre-cut video ringtones from newer Marvel properties like the animated Wolverine & The X-Men, theme songs from the animated 1966 Marvel Super Heroes series, and the new content will be added every month.

The first mobile video is available for free, while additional clips could be yours for $2 each.

Rhapsody's iPhone App Hits iTunes

Rhapsody on iPhone from Rhapsody on Vimeo.

Apple on Thursday approved Real's music subscription service Rhapsody for the iPhone and iPod touch.

The announcement is news not just because Rhapsody is arguably the best subscription music out there, but also due to Apple's traditionally hard-lined approach toward services that "duplicate" functionality already available on the device--i.e., iTunes.

[via PC Magazine]

Threat to sue over ringtones

Music composers are threatening legal action against companies that sell ringtones and do not compensate song writers. The National Organisation for Reproduction Rights in Music in Southern Africa gave cellular service providers until the end of last month to sign an agreement to pay over 7.5 percent from every downloaded song to the composers.

[via Business Report]

Gary Go tops charts with songs written on iPhone

Rising UK singer/songwriter Gary Go is known for creating most - and sometimes all - of his accompaniment on his Apple iPhone.

Go uses several iPhone apps not only when he composes songs but also in concerts, backing his electronic keyboards and, of course, his voice.

Check out Gary explaining his use of the iPhone and Twitter in his songwriting in Keyboard Magazine.

[via Stuff]

Smule's I am T-Pain iPhone app let's you sing with auto-tune

I am T-Pain by Smule (makers of the Ocarina app) lets you sing along with T-Pain songs using auto-tune technology. The San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Like with a karaoke app., you just sing along to the words into the iPhone mic.

When you listen to the recorded track, you hear your voice all synthesized and modulated like T-Pain. Auto-tune is a technology that can both correct for errors in pitch but also change your voice, making it sound synthetic.

Apple to offer ready-made ringtones. Yay.

Apple has obtained the rights to offer ready-made ringtones for the iPhone and managers are trying to have them available in time for next week's press conference, music industry sources told CNET News.

Owners of Apple's iPhone have long had the ability to create custom-made ringtones for their devices. The new music snippets are mainly a convenience, as they make it possible for iPhone owners to obtain a pre-cut ringtone instead of having to create their own.

YouTube Signs Deal with UK Musicians

After more than nine months of bitter wrangling, YouTube has agreed a licensing deal with British songwriters that will see thousands of music videos return to the online video site.

Business Week reports that YouTube has secured an agreement with the PRS for Music, the body that collects royalties on behalf of songwriters, composers and music publishers, over the size of the royalties for every video viewed.

The companies declined to reveal the terms of the deal, but it emerged YouTube has agreed to pay a lump sum as part of the agreement.

Read full article.

Thatcher and Churchill Quotes as Ringtones

The Conservative Party has launched two ringtones using lines from famous speeches by former prime ministers Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher. Marketing Magazine reports.

The 'Iron Lady's' famous, 'The lady's not for turning', line is used for one of the ringtones which can be downloaded from the party's website.

Churchill's rallying cry, 'We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender', features on the other.

The activity is part of the Conservative Party's History Week on conservatives.com. Earlier in the year the Tories introduced a ringtone of Prime Minister Gordon Brown's 'I've saved the world' slip-up which was downloaded by thousands of people last year.

Click here to listen.

5 ways to listen to music on the iPhone without using iTunes

One of the iPhone's main selling points is its ability to play music. But we don't always want to listen to music from our iTunes libraries, do we? Here are five ways to listen to music on an iPhone without using iTunes.

[via ars technica]