Mobile Ringtone Market is Booming

By: Alvin Cosav

Aside from the obvious telecommunication market and usability of mobile phones another sub-market has developed from the mobile industry boom. This sub-market is the mobile phone ringtone market. The growth of this submarket came as an unexpected, pleasant surprise as nobody would have thought that mobile ringtone downloads could surpass the download rate of Apple’s iTunes, but it did. Individuals caught in the wireless lifestyle trend want to put a sense of their personality and individuality in their mobile handsets, so they personalize their phones through their ringtones.

The mobile phone ringtone market is definitely on a major growth spurt. Generic ringtones that are installed by default on the mobile phones are now passé, people like to have specific tones set to sound their phones whenever someone calls or messages them. Mobile phone ringtones usually cater to the youth market as they constantly update their mobile ringtones based on the current hit-song in the market which, as we all know, is ever changing.

The ARC Group of consultants have reported that the mobile ringtones revenue of 2007 amounted to US$ 3.5 billion worldwide. ARC Group noted that the profit made by mobile ringtone sales in 2007 increased by 40% since 2002.

Mobile ringtones are typified into 4 different categories. The most basic and the predecessor of all the modern-sounding ringtones is the Monophonic Ringtone. Monophonic Ringtones are tones that have no note harmonies. These tones are capable of playing only one note at a time. The sound produced by monophonic ringtones is usually based on the main melody. If you play the piano, and you play your right hand’s notes without the left hand accompaniment—this is how a monophonic ringtone will most likely sound like.

The second category of ringtones is the more advanced Polyphonic Ringtone. A Polyphonic Ringtone is basically a music file that is capable of storing more than 2 notes. These tones can play note harmonies and they add depth and tonality to the quality of sound of the ringtone. A polyphonic ringtone usually sounds like an instrumental song.

True Tones or Real Life Ringtones make the third category of ringtones. They are an upgraded version of polyphonic ringtones. Real Life Ringtones are capable of storing note harmonies with voices and other patterns of sound.

The fourth and most recent category of ringtones is the Master Ringtones. Master Ringtones are basically compressed clips of sound files. Most master ringtones are saved in either the mp3 or mp4 format.

The market leaders for mobile ringtone downloads based on geography and region are Europe and Asia. Sales of mobile ringtones in these areas reach around US$ 4 per download. It has been said that more money has even been made with ringtone sales as compared to music CD singles. It’s not much of a wonder that recording companies have such as EMI and BMG in the United States have tied up with mobile telecommunication companies like
Verizon. Universal Records and Sony Records in Europe have plans to team up
with T-Mobile as well.

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Alvin Cosav works for SJA Mobile as a consultant for mobile marketing strategies. He has extensive experience in mobile marketing. mobile applications from various industry-leading organizations in the mobile industry.

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