Symphony in B(eeps). Gadget sounds of our lives

The Philadelphia Inquirer in a fascinating article, looks into the origin of the sounds our gadgets make around us. Who came up with the microwave C when you hit a button, or the Verizon spray of notes at startup when you turn on an LG cellphone? Who figures out what the notes are going to be? Apparently a lot of people.

... Sumanth S. Gopinath is an assistant professor of music at the University of Minnesota and a scholar of ringtones. He says we've created a "treble culture" - a world of high, tiny digital beeps in toys, watches, and gadgets. Although these technologies "originated in the U.S., Japanese producers took to them with particular alacrity," he says. Japan and East Asia have been especially prominent in creating global treble culture.

We may be creating a culture of shorter and shorter musical forms. One of the most familiar pieces of music in the world, says Gopinath, is the "Nokia Tune" - you know it - which "is heard 1.8 billion times a day." Gopinath says short musical pieces like this, heard in the thousands, amount to a kind of "world music."

And world advertising. Such music, because it's short and relatively quiet, might not seem all that pressing. "But given their distribution over large numbers of users," Gopinath says, "they add up to a tapestry that cumulatively has a powerful effect." The "Nokia Tune," the Apple "Marimba," the "Vista Tune" - all are soft, constant assertions of a corporate source. "Sonic branding"!

Read full article.

A History of Ringtone Rap One-Hit Wonders

Complex on the rise and fall of the "Ringtone Rap Era".

If you’ve been listening to hip-hop for the past decade, then you’ve lived through one of the genre’s strangest periods: The Ringtone Rap Era. It was a time loosely defined by a series of one-hit wonders, songs that seemingly popped up weekly with excellent beats, catchy hooks…and not much else.

What made ringtones so frustratingly disposable was that they were seemingly created with the sole purpose of capitalizing on the then-emerging popularity of ringtones—it didn’t matter if the songs were good in their entirety, since they only needed to bump for the 10-30 seconds that your phone rang.

Although a number of artists were able to begin real careers as ringtone rappers, the genre was notorious for creating stars who made one Top 40 hit and then faded into oblivion.

Read full article.

How phones ring a bell in your head

The instant you hear a cellphone ring, your brain reacts in a unique way - if the ringtone matches that of your own phone. New Scientist reports.

Anja Roye of the University of Leipzig in Germany and colleagues recorded the text-alert tones of 12 volunteers, then played them all the tones, at the same volume and in a random order, while recording their neural activity via scalp electrodes.

... Brain areas linked to hearing and memory retrieval lit up when participants heard their own ringtone or the one they were assigned.

Related, sort of:

-- When you hear ringing and there's no one there

-- Fiddler Tim O'Brien sings about phantom phone call syndrome

-- Phantom vibration syndrome

Average teenager "steals" 800 songs

A survey by the music lobby group British Music Rights shows that 95 per cent of teenagers and young people copy music in some way, with half the average 1770 tracks on an MP3 player being stolen.

The good news: 60 per cent of respondents said they would carry on buying CDs, and the survey states that 80 per cent of current P2P users would be interested in a legal file-sharing service, and would even be willing to pay for it.

[via TechRadar]

Music industry betting on mobiles

The music industry and retailers are hoping mobile music downloads will reverse the decline in music sales. The BBC reports.

... "CD sales might be tumbling but digital music sales are steadily increasing. Unfortunately digital growth only accounts for a tenth of overall music sales, so they are still not making up for the shortfall generated by CDs.

There is one territory which is bucking this trend though. Digital music sales in Japan are sufficient to offset the loss made by CDs. In fact, Japan saw a 1% rise in music sales last year. Industry observers attribute this rise to mobile music downloads.

... Downloading via mobile offers the user the ability to browse a store's back catalogue, purchase and download music all via a mobile phone while on the move, cutting out the need to download songs using a computer."

Ringtones in the workplace are driving us crazy

The Seatlle Times takes the defense of cubicle workers of the world who have to put up with intruding ringtones from their fellow co-workers.

Apparently, "nearly a third of office workers cite cellphones as their No. 1 peeve, a survey from Randstad USA found.

... The problem isn't the occasional cellphone ring — office phones ring, too — but the sheer number of personal phone calls, which disrupt momentum and become a burden for everybody, says Sue Morem, workplace advice columnist and author.

The problem with disruptive cellphones is compounded because about 60 percent of workplaces do not have policies on personal cellphone use, according to a survey from the Society for Human Resource Management. And among those that do, the policy is often ignored."

Music Ringtones are Set to be Managed by Record Labels as a New Recorded Music Format

According to a Research and Markets, music ringtones in the future will be managed by record labels as a new recorded music format. Industry incumbents are finding that this shift will truly be a case of black and white. [via

"The catalyst of such a fundamental shift is the transition from monotonic and polyphonic ringtones to real music ringtones which has allowed the record labels to enter the market for the first time. This volume contains an analysis of the key trends which are shaping the development of the new ringtone industry.

Because ringtones and digital songs offer fundamentally different value sets, they are different product categories, each of which will be characterised by different pricing, promotion and positioning: the fact that a real music ringtone is simply an excerpt of a digital song is irrelevant from a marketing perspective.

... Now, through a range of sometimes aggressive initiatives the record labels, especially the majors, are sending a clear signal to the industry that they see themselves at the top of the ringtone food chain: having arrived at the table five years late, the label's are hungry and are in no mood to pussy-foot around with business partners."

Image from Rare Records

Portable content not connecting with consumers

Despite all the dramatic advancements that the mobile entertainment industry has made, there is a still one important ingredient it has not obtained: customers. The Scotsman reports. Picture left from Red Bee.

Mobile tracking firm M:Metrics has determined from data collected in the three-month period that ended in July that ringtones -- by far the most popular form of mobile content -- are bought by only about 10 percent of the total user base.

In addition, <2 percent have bought games, 3.5 percent subscribed to a ringtone service or downloaded a wallpaper image, 0.4 percent watched paid video and0.2 percent downloaded a full song.

With technological evolution is a growing perception that the industry must develop a better way of selling all this product.

... The biggest concern is that each type of mobile service -- ringtones, games, video -- is sold separately. Consumers who buy a ringtone of a given artist, for example, may have no idea that the same artist may have a mobile game for sale or that the artist's music video is available for download.

Interest in mobile music downloads wanes

According to the The Financial Times, "interest in downloading music to mobile phones has begun to stall, raising questions about consumers’ appetite for one of the perceived selling points of 3G mobile phones.

"A survey of 3,000 consumers by Entertainment Media Research, in association with Olswang, the law firm, puts a cloud over the music industry’s hopes that music for mobile phones will be an important source of growth.

The survey found that just 11 per cent of consumers were already paying for music downloads on their mobile: only half the level that expressed interest in downloading in a similar survey a year ago.

... The study found that the mobile industry had succeeded in attracting “early adopters” to the technology, but a “second wave” of consumers was unconvinced with 44 per cent saying they were not interested in downloads and 36 per cent preferring to download over their home computer."

... Keith Jopling, director of strategic research and analysis for the IFPI, said: “Mobile music has a number of attractive key drivers, but also some barriers to overcome.”

Identify the Key Forces that will Shape the New Ringtone Industry

Research and Marketshas announced the addition of Ringtones: Past, Present and Future Volume 2 to their offering. [via Business Wire]

It is a time change for the ringtone industry. The replacement of polyphonic ringtones with real music ringtones amounts to far more than a format replacement cycle: because record labels have now arrived in the market, the very structure and operation of the ringtone industry is seeing dramatic chang.

Presented in two separate volumes, this report is focused on identifying and analysing the key forces that will shape the new ringtone industry and define the winners and losers.

Summary

Chaku-uta Full: Europe and the U.S. have missed the boat

The phenomenal success of full-length song downloads to mobile in Japan is unlikely to be repeated in Europe and the U.S. mainly because of the different development trajectories that have been taken by the Internet which in Japan is mainly accessed using mobile phones while in the U.S. and Europe, consumers understand that the Internet is accessed using PCs.

While European and U.S. markets will find success in adding music player features to mobile phones these will be used mainly to transfer songs from the PC to the device, rather than to buy music from an operator-branded mobile or online music store.

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c41204

Britons Too Worried About Choosing Ringtones

According to a report published by the Sun via PhoneContent.com, "paranoid Brits" are getting "hung up over choosing their mobile ringtones as they fear it will make them a laughing stock."

"The report says that 80 per cent of the Britons were worried what others would think of their choice of ringtones. And very surprisingly about 90 per cent have been ridiculed by family and friends for selecting weird ringtones."

The report further says that about 10 per cent people change their ringtones every week and they fit into the category of "Top 10 hit" mobile user who, "moves with times but may try too hard to be cool".

Ringtones, or the auditory logic of globalization

This incredibly thorough essay by Sumantha Gopinath - Assistant Professor of Music Theory in the University of Minnesota School of Music - published on First Monday "attempts to provide a description of the global ringtone industry, to determine and assess the numerous cultural consequences of the ringtone’s appearance and development, and to situate the ringtone within the context of contemporary capitalism." The essay also covers the history of the ringtone, how it's evolving, world sales, what it's like to be a ringtone composers and who's entitled to copyright revenue.

Some random highlights:

-- Ringtones are central to the contemporary sonic imaginary and are in several ways indicative of the transformations in capitalism taking place in the wake of the Third Industrial (or digital) Revolution.

-- The work of composing ringtones is not particularly glamorous: it is, in a sense, an updated form of writing jingles or advertising music whose product is mobile telephony itself.

-- In a survey of a hundred professionals with cell–phones by the British PR agency Burston–Marsteller, 18 percent of respondents found the worst cell phone etiquette offense to be playing through all of your cellphone ringtones while sitting on the train.

-- In many cases ringtone sales are outpacing recording single sales of the same song...

Using Your Cell to Name That Tune

Can't identify that catchy song playing in the bar or on the radio? Several new services will do the job through your cellphone for a fee, reports the WSJ in an article on several music recognition services available in the US.

"Song-recognition services have been available abroad for a few years, but have only recently become widely available in the U.S. Rocket Mobile Inc says more than one million people have downloaded its Song Identity cellphone program since November,

New York-based NMK Inc. says it has fielded more than 80,000 calls for its 411-Song service since its April launch. That service can be used by customers of all major carriers.

Related services:

-- Song Recognition Application Included on Select Motorola Mobile Devices

-- MusicKube Launches SongLink'd Service

-- Fido Names That Tune

-- 411-SONG

-- Asia's First Mobile Music Recognition Service

-- Shazam in the UK and Europe

-- Gracenote's service with Philips, in U.S.

-- Dial-That-Tune Comes to U.S.

'Bites Off the Apple' - Study

As more mobile companies add digital music downloading to their handsets, sales of iPods and other MP3 players will slow, according to an influential US newspaper, reports Netimperative.

"A report by the Barron's newspaper in the US said that by 2006, many new handsets will carry software and data storage for portable music, allowing users to download songs both from PCs and wireless music services owned by network operators or other companies.

"While optimists think Apple could sell 45 million iPods next year, mobile-phone makers will be selling more than 750 million handsets," wrote Bill Alpert in the report entitled 'Bites Off the Apple'.

"All those handsets could weigh on the iPod's growth prospects -- and Apple's premium stock valuation. Cellphone users won't need to lug around a second gadget to have their music."

The report added that Apple's marketshare of the digital music business could shrink from 90% to just a few percent.

Apple's dominance with the iPod will dwindle slowly however, as mobile phones will not have for some time the capacity to store as many songs as an iPod.

Furthermore, it will be some time before 3G networks will replace current networks in the US, the iPod's core market.

Barron's said that while some analysts think Apple may sell 45 million iPods next year, this contrasts with the 750 million or more mobile phone handsets predicted to sell next year globally.

At the end of the quarter ending 26th March, Apple sold 5.31 million iPods, accounting for roughly one-third of the company's revenue."

Young Mobile Users Most Interested In Music - Survey

Commercial-free radio over mobile phones and the ability to download music to phones are the two most interesting advanced mobile services to young adults, according to a recent study conducted by the Network Management Group consulting firm,, reports Reuters.

Ringtones: Past, Present and Future Volume 2

Research and Markets has announced the addition of Ringtones: Past, Present and Future Volume 2 to their offering, according to an online Press release.

It is a time change for the ringtone industry. The replacement of polyphonic ringtones with real music ringtones amounts to far more than a format replacement cycle: because record labels have now arrived in the market, the very structure and operation of the ringtone industry is seeing dramatic change.

Presented in two separate volumes, this report is focussed on identifying and analysing the key forces that will shape the new ringtone industry and define the winners and losers

For more information visit
http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c16228

Laura Wood
Senior Manager
Research and Markets
press@researchandmarkets.com
Fax: +353 1 4100 980

Report. Mobile Music Best Practices from Japan and Korea

Vectis International has just released a new market report entitled "Mobile Music Best Practices from Japan and Korea": The future of Ringtones, Real Tunes, Ringback Tones and Full-Length Song Services from the World's Most Advanced Markets".

While operators worldwide are still making announcements about future full-length music song download services, both countries have already made significant headway.

The report provides an in-depth analysis of these highly successful and sophisticated services in two markets widely regarded as global leaders in mobile music content. [via PhoneContent.com].

For more information on the study or to view the Table of Contents visit: www.vectis-intl.com/en/TableofContentsMobileMusicJapanandKorea.pdf

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.

Mobile phones with built-in MP3 players to become mainstream by 2008

Demand for mobile phones with built-in MP3 players is projected to hit 350 million units worldwide by 2008, up from 40 million estimated for this year, according to the Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center (IEK), report DigiTimes.

"Unlike camera applications in phones, a built-in MP3 player can easily overcome both size and technology barriers, said IEK.

Taiwan makers will attempt to differentiate their products by starting development of mobile phones that include both MP3-player functionality and videophone capabilities, the research organization suggested."

Mobile Music and Ringtones Report

Australian ResearchAndMarkets provides an assessment of where they believe the music and ringtones sector is headed, what the key issues are, and how they are being resolved.

The Data and Forecasts found in this report cover the period of 2003 to 2008 and are categorised as follows:

Key Regions
- North America
- South America
- Europe
- Asia Pacific
- Rest of World.

Mobile Market:2.5G
- 3G users

Mobile Music and Ringtones Market
Music and ringtones users and revenues by region

Music:
Total mobile users who download music content Total number of music downloads by mobile users per year Revenues
from mobile music content Average number of music downloads per user Average price paid per music mobile download Average Revenue Per User (Arpu)

Ringtones:
Total mobile users who download ringtone content Total number of ringtone downloads by mobile users per year Revenues from mobile ringtone content Average number of ringtone downloads per user Average price paid per ringtone download Average Revenue Per User (Arpu)

Price Australia Dollars 1'450.- or US $ 1,033.-.

How European Teenagers Spend their Allowance

French weekly L'Express, in a study on how European teenagers spend their allowance, says girls spend it on fashion, whereby boys buy video games, but both spend money on their cell phones (for calls and downloads).

TNS Media Intelligence reports that 62% of 11 to 19 year-olds have their own cell phone. compared to 53% in 2002 and they send an average of 60 SMS a month.

In magazines targeted to teenagers, 9 out of 10 advertisements are about selling logos and ringtones.

More Wireless Consumers Would Like to Tune in to Mobile Music Services Reports In-Stat/MDR

A recent Consumer Mobility Study by Instat/MDR finds that 11.4% of U.S. mobile subscribers are very or extremely interested in moving beyond basic ringtones and purchasing more full-featured music/audio services for their wireless phones including music and news/talk content available as downloadable content or on demand, reports Business Wire.

"In-Stat/MDR's survey also revealed the following about those who expressed an interest in mobile music and audio:

-- The most popular service concept is the ability to download MP3s or other digital music files directly to wireless handsets, followed closely by the ability to listen to streaming music on demand.

-- Total monthly wireless spending among likely mobile music adopters is 14% higher than the general subscriber base.

-- They are likely to be male, younger, and work in a professional role, and are also more likely than the average wireless subscriber to be African American, Hispanic or Asian American. "

The report, "Consumer Demand for Mobile Music Services" (#IN0401658MCD), is based on In-Stat/MDR's Consumer Mobility Study and contains an overview of survey respondents' interest in potential music and audio services for their mobile handsets.

Hispanics embrace wireless

The U.S. Hispanic population has embraced wireless, according to industry research and reported by Wireless Week.

AT&T Wireless is tapping into this expanding segment of wireless users with the introduction of iTodo Latino!, a host of Spanish-language Web sites available to m-mode subscribers.

"In February, Scarborough Research released a study that found that on average, wireless phone bills for Hispanics are more than 10 percent higher than the national average."

Ringtone Download and Install Usability

A very informative article from PMN on how ringtone downloads fare by carrier.

"Scott Weiss from usable Products Company, evaluated handsets from three carriers: AT&T's Nokia 6800, T-Mobile's Motorola T720, and Verizon's LG VX400".

He explains the key methods for ringtone downloading and installing (WAP, J2ME and BREW), weighs their advantages and disadvantages and gives some figures:

"Ringtones are a huge revenue opportunity. According to The Economist, ringtone sales globally hit USD 3.5 billion last year (2003). In the US alone, USD 80 million of ringtones were sold. However, ringtone download and install usability varies from handset to handset and carrier to carrier".

Nokia releases mobile content study

Nokia releases a study conducted by NOP World which finds 'out and about' consumers will pay more for mobile content, reports InfoSync World.

"According to a global market study conducted for Nokia - based on interviews with people who are mobile phone users and have access to the Internet -mobile content services hold promising revenue potential, with study respondents willing to pay for such services 28% more than they pay for their current services today.

Current mobile content usage is dominated by downloading ringtones (used by 40% of the respondents), followed by icons/screen-savers (22%).

However, current mobile content services are perceived as being too expensive".

Ring Tones Spark Revenue for Wireless Operators

Who would have guessed that something as simple as ring tones would
drive wireless data revenue to the tune of about $3.5 billion a year
globally? The ring tone market has taken many by surprise, and
operators, not wanting to be left out in the cold, understand that they
have to design ways to handle those services, from launch to billing to
settlement.

John L. Guerra's above introduction in Billing World to ringtones, is followed by a ringtone purchase scenario and advice on how to set up a business plan and providing customer service

Reads like alot of good advice.

Rafat Ali's Mobile Content report a bestseller

Jason Calacanis reports that blog star Rafat Ali sold well over 100 of the excellent Mobile Music Report for Feb 2004 at $ 30.- a pop. Well done Rafat!

If you don't have a copy, order now!

The Mobile Music Report for Feb 2004

paidContent.org and MocoNews.net have launched their first ever report: The Mobile Music Report for Feb 2004.

The report, as the name suggests, is a contextualized compendium of news and analysis in the mobile music and ringtones sector, covering end of January and the whole of February.

The coverage includes mobile-music-related news on major labels, such as Sony and Universal; efforts by handset manufacturers like Nokia and Sony Ericsson; telecom operators like T-Mobile and Virgin Mobile; news on mobile DRM efforts, including OMA guidelines; news on ringback tones; news on mobile music recognition services; news from the hottests areas in Asia, UK and Europe, along with all the developments in U.S., of course.

Also covered in the report is extensive coverage of the Mobile Music Conference from Midem, held on Jan 25, 2004 in Cannes.

It is a 31 page report, priced at $30. Click here for How to Buy.