A report published by analysts Baskerville/Informa Media forecast that ringtones would account for 12% of total music sales by 2008.

story here
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3874797.stm

I rip songs from my cds straight to my phone for the ringtones. This revenue stream was dead before it started. But we all know that the RIAA will use heavy handed and foolish efforts to try and keep it alive.

can you enlighten me on this process raoulduke1?

What would I want to spend money to hear over and over again the first 10 seconds of a song... Full of static and muffled by my pocket... I guess I'm too old to understand.

Slightly Off Topic in this section but a good read from DownhillBattle.com cocernig the real deal behind iTunes.

http://www.downhillbattle.org/itunes/

Olivier, I understand...I just upgraded my wife and her sister's cellphones...I don't have one and I am resisting as much as I can ...

While I was setting it up for her, I looked at some of the ringtones stuff. $2.50 per song for 90 days. This is not only expensive but in my mind a waste. When a phone rings, I want to hear it ringing, not buzzing, chirping, warbling or playing beethoven's fifth. One of my biggest pet peeves is hearing all sorts of stupid music coming out of people's purses and off their belt.
However, if that's what people want well that's the way it goes, I'll have to live with it. Maybe, some of these cell phonaholics can have their phones implanted in their skulls so they can talk on and on all day long and only they could hear all the pretty ringtones then.

You're not too old. I'm 22. My ringer is a.. ringer. I'm not paying a buck for a full track online. I'm not paying a buck or more for a few seconds of one either.

I like the ringtones, but I only download the "free" ones or use the ones that came with my phone.

I think xingtone lets u create ringtones from mp3s. Its like 15 bucks...and then u can make unlimited ringtones with no strings attached or somethin

Pinemikey... $2.50 for 90 days... Wow that's outrageous, althought I'm sure you don't want to keep them for more than 90 days. If only the music industry was more realistic about pricing... It seems they believe everything they touch must turn into gold. Maybe their executives are paid too much and lost track of the real-life pricing LOL.

I'm actually not very old , and I use and abuse my cell. I just don't get all this buzz about the ringtones. Yeah it's sortof funny, but REALLY not to the point it should generate so much noise (litteraly) and revenues!

The european market is much more mature than the US one when it comes to cell phones. People download new wallpapers. themes and ringtones all the time there. However, it usually just cost you a SMS.

$2.50 for bit of song... And targeted at teenagers... This is a dead market already. Another "good" idea down the drain because of corporate greed. Let's wait for them, unrealistic goons, to whine about "piracy" now...

"When a phone rings, I want to hear it ringing, not buzzing, chirping, warbling or playing beethoven's fifth. One of my biggest pet peeves is hearing all sorts of stupid music coming out of people's purses and off their belt."

and have you ever noticed how these idiots who have these annoyances on their cell phones are always the ones to have them buried the deepest in their bags, with the volume of course set to the highest it will go... so you get to listen to "baby hit me one more time" from beginning to end while they're digging through all their stuff...

I very easily live without a cell phone. Don't want one. So all this cell phone stuff is just something that goes right by me.

You usually notice those that have them in places you should not have them on. On the highway, while they are driving all over the road. In the restruant where you could think that a little common decency would tell them to turn it off. Or in the movie house till most had to put in a jammer to allow all the other patrons to watch the movie in peace.

Oooh can I get one of those jammers? I could have alot of fun with one of those.

I think there was an article on this subject somewhere in the archive.

I have a Palmone Treo 600 and software from a company called lightwave. It allows me to upload any mp3 or wav file I have on my computer directly to my phone. The enitre song or a snipit of the song if I so choose. It does take some getting used to though. I find myself thinking hey I like that song, before I relaize it means my phone is ringing. The sound quality is surprisingly good.

It also has a feature that allows you to play mp3 files of (storms, crashes, crowd noises etc...) for the purpose of making an excuse to get off the phone, by playing the file in the background of the call.

There is another company that makes software for uploading mp3s to numerous types of phones it is called xingtone. it looks like it may work well also.

I have a cell phone, but I keep it off unless I am actually going to make a call, or (very rarely) am expecting a call in the next few minutes (in which case I set it to vibrate, I don't think I have used the ringer at all). Too many people let cell phones control their lives, but your cell phone is supposed to serve you, not the other way around. Not to mention that telemarketers are targeting cell phone numbers now, and I don't want to pay for sales calls. Just remember that cell phones can be nice as long as you stay in control of the phone and don't let the phone control you.

I can't believe 12% of terrible quality music. tisk tisk.

Wow, I hope that %12 number is true. That would mean a LOT less RIAA sales are occuring. (lol, we all know that there can't be that many folks stupid enough to be paying for DRM infected ring tones... uh, I certainly hope not.)

Shmoo, of Electric Gypsy
Support Local and Independent Music!

I was asked to fix a phone yesterday. The other had payed £4 for a new ringtone, which had not arrived. The bill had, but not the tone.

I spent a few hours trying to fix it, but couldn't find any trace of the tone. There wasn't much to search with through as, like most phones, this one has an interface designed to stop the users messing about too much.

It shows, if a phone has DRM there is more to go wrong.