Ringtone sales sing off-key

Posted Apr 9th 2007 11:40AM by Zac Bissonnette
Filed under: Bad News, Products and Services, Marketing and Advertising

The music industry just can't catch a break. With CD sales in free fall for years, the record labels had been relying, believe it or not, on growth in ringtone sales to make up for lost revenue. But, The New York Times reports, the party may be over. According to Broadcast Music Inc., ringtone sales are expected to drop $50 million to $550 million this year. However, in a bit of good news, ringback sales -- yes, you can buy music that plays while you are waiting for a phone call to be answered -- are expected to increase to $65 million this year.

Does anyone else find it sort of pathetic that people spent $600 million on ringtone sales last year? It started out as cool and clever but now that so many people have same ones, it's not. It's annoying. According to the Billboard Hot Ringtones chart (I'm not making this up), the number one ringtone is Chris Brown's "Poppin'," with annoyingly omnipresent songs like "My Humps," "Candy Shop," and "Because I Got High" all making appearances.

Tags: Music, ringback, Ringtones