Ringtones: Passing Craze, or Major Media Market?   10/10/2005 - 1,535 views,

Ringtones had at one time seemed like a passing craze. When it became clear that it wasn’t passing, it still seemed like a craze. One need only look at the Crazy Frog ringtone phenomenpm to realize just how much of a craze it is. Earlier this year Crazy Frog ringtone downloads eclipsed downloads of the popular group ColdPlay’s chart-topping music by an astonishing 4 to 1!

Surprised? I was too, but ringtone purveyor Ringtones.It wasn’t. According to them, ringtones now account for more than 10% of the total music market, worldwide! Holy download, Batman, that’s a whole lot of ringtones!

Says Ringtones.It, “Few thought that the monophonic tones of the late 1990s would evolve into the multi-billion dollar market that exists today. But, following the advent of true polyphonic ringtones in 2003, the realisation of their potential has developed a fresh momentum.

Unable to ignore the ringtone market, the music business has come to embrace its future and its influence on youth culture. This is especially true of the hip-hop industry whose output makes-up more than half of all downloaded ringtones. Successful artists such as 50 Cent, Mariah Carey and Kanye West have all learnt that ringtones are by no means a niche product.”

I have to confess that I too have a custom ringtone on my cell phone. But somehow I think it speaks more to my nostalgia for the old days rather than my embracing the hip cool of the ringtone generation. My ringtone sounds like an old rotary desk-phone, not Maria Carey, 50 Cent, or a crazy frog. And somehow, I prefer it that way.