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Ringtones hit the charts(The Express On Sunday Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Sales of mobile phone music have reached GBP142m in the UK and created some very unlikely stars. Now the tunes are even netting platinum discs, writes Andrew Bryson ANYONE travelling on a bus who has had to endure a tinny musical disturbance from a fellow passenger's mobile phone will know ringtones are more than a passing fad. Since their introduction in 1998 the growth of ringtones has defied all forecasts, with UK sales likely to reach GBP142million this year. According to figures released this week by research firm Informa, the market for music downloaded on mobile phones including ringtones, full length songs and "ringbacks" which play to callers on voicemail is worth a staggering $6billion (GBP3.2billion) worldwide. This week mobile phone music was awarded the highest music accolade of all. At a ceremony in New York, the first gold and platinum discs were awarded to top-selling artists including rappers 50 Cent and Kanye West for ringtone sales. The record industry sat up and began to take notice when the original monoand poly-phonic ringtones were joined by more lifelike "realtones". Songs downloaded over the Internet were counted for the first time in the official record charts earlier this year and it might not be long before fulllength realtones also make the grade, according to Phil Matcham from the Official Charts Company. "Now it is possible to make ringtones from the master recordings, there is no reason in theory why they can't be counted for the charts. But the industry needs to work through the issues in the right way." With novelty sounds and short music clips making up a large proportion of sales, careful consideration needs to go into assessing which ringtones would qualify for the top 40. For now, ringtones have a chart of their own (see below). The different digital formats may even converge at some point in the future. Informa says that music on mobiles is more of a challenge to smaller flashbased MP3 players rather than larger devices such as the iPod, which can hold an entire record collection. While the MP3 format has a head start, mobile phone companies have a few aces up their sleeve, says Informa analyst Nicky Walton. "The latest full-length downloads on mobile phones are in OMA2 which is an open format. It's less about control and more about letting people access all types of music, all types of networks. "The other advantage is that everyone has a mobile phone. And the phone companies already have good customer care relationships which will help getting people to use the technology." As with Internet downloads, the record industry fears that ringtones present an ideal opportunity for piracy. This month rapper Eminem reached an out-of-court settlement with a ringtones company which had been selling electronic versions of his songs. But overall the record industry is beginning to consider music on mobile phones as an opportunity. At GBP3 to GBP4 per song, royalties from ringtones already contribute as much as 7 per cent to global record company revenue. As well as providing established artists with a new outlet for their music, ringtones are acting as a springboard for some unlikely new stars. Few could have escaped the Crazy Frog, last year's highest selling ringtone which made its backers Jamster a reported GBP10million. This year may see an even more unlikely hit: the "Mosquitotone", which the undeveloped teenage ear can hear but which adults cannot. Made by Compound Security, the GBP3 ringtone went on sale on Friday and will be backed by a GBP500,000 advertising campaign. At least this ringtone won't disturb your peace on the bus. This week's ringtone rundown 1 Gnarls Barkley Crazy 2 Infernal From Paris To Berlin 3 Sandi Thom I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker 4 Beatfreakz Somebody's Watching Me 5 Rihanna SOS (Rescue Me) 6 Primal Scream Country Girl 7 Busta Rhymes Touch It 8 LL Cool J ft Jennifer Lopez Control Myself 9 Daz Sampson Teenage Life 10 Shayne Ward No Promises |