U.S. Ringback-Tone Sales Fall Again; Will Music Streams Take Their Place?
(UPDATED) Annual U.S. mobile music projections from BMI set the value of the 2010 retail ringback-tone market in the United States at $181 million, down 7% from its revised 2009 retail forecast of $195 million. Ringtone sales peaked in 2008 at $210 million. Consumers may be abandoning short form mobile entertainment like ringbacks and ringtones in favor of full tracks and streaming.
“The falloff in the ringback-tone market mimics the deceleration of ringtone revenues several years ago, which actually sparked the birth of ringback,” noted Richard Conlon, BMI’s Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy, Communications and New Media. “We are poised for another form factor and consumer behavior shift. This shift is driven by the increase in handheld data devices, enhanced content offerings and improved wireless infrastructure. The industry is coming into alignment to deliver new streaming-based services that we feel will equate to growth.”
Is it possible that ringtone sales are also falling, because it’s just as easy (and free!) to make your own?
As an example, with GarageBand I can import a track, choose the sample, and export to back to iTunes for use as a ringtone. It’ll then sync right to my iPhone. The whole process takes less than 5 minutes. If it’s an iTunes track, I pay $1. If it’s my own track, it’s free!
Back when I was still using a Blackberry, I could email an mp3 to myself, download it to the phone, and set it for use as the ringtone. Didn’t cost anything.
But if I was to buy a ringtone from my provider, they wanted upwards of $4. That’s insane.
You don’t even need garage band, you can create ringtones (m4r files) solely in iTunes, there are plenty of tutorials online to explain how.
The economy sucks, so people are cutting back on frivolous expenses. Consumers are reluctant to spend money on something that they rarely get to utilize, especially since texting use is going up and actual phone calls are going down.
Smartphone usage is increasing and many don’t link to the carriers’ ringtone/ringback store. Also, the price should come down.
But, you can’t create your own ringback yet.