Goodbye+Ringtones,+Hello+Ringback.

**Goodbye Ringtone, Hello Ringback**

**By Robiat Balogun**

In 2004, Ringtones became a way for cellphone users to individualize their mobile devices by assigning ringtones to their contacts. Ringtones are 15-20 seconds of music content, usually hooks or melodies, purchased for $3 from the mobile carrier or independent company.

The ringtones are supplied to mobile carriers by the music industry artists in order to promote album sales. According to Kim Thai and consumer analyst group IBIS World, “The U.S ringtone revenue this year will reach about $750 million, down from $881 million in 2007- and the business will be nonexistent in 2016.”

The reason being cellphones rarely ring, since the introduction of text messaging. Text messaging has doubled to 584 texts per month and calls have decreased by 15%. Also with consumers constantly on the move (classroom, work, movie theatre, etc), ringers are silenced or put on vibrate causing consumers to have no purpose for ringtones.

Mobile smartphones have impacted the sales of ringtones because smartphones offer users’ downloadable applications (ex. Mabilo Ringtones) providing free and popular music.

The ringback tone (a song that plays for incoming callers instead of a ringing signal) has grown tremendously since its introduction in 2004. The ringback tunes allow incoming callers to listen to the users’ favorite song rather than the annoying ringing sound.

Ringback tones have doubled its revenue to $200 million of the music lables in 2005. Since ringback tones are purchased from the mobile carriers, the music is harder to pirate unlike ringtones, which can be illegally downloaded onto the devices.

Our generation has become a more text-centric society, while consumers attach ringtones to notifications on mobile devices, the music industry is no longer profiting.



Resources: [|Ringtones' requiem] 1/19/2010