WOW! Cell phone ring tone sales hit $3.5B - GoFuckYourself.com

EscortBiz · 01-13-2004, 09:57 AM

http://money.cnn.com/2004/01/13/news...eut/index.htm?

Cell phone ring tone sales hit $3.5B
Those little jingles are turning into a big business.
January 13, 2004: 9:38 AM EST

LONDON (Reuters) - Sales of mobile phone ring tones, those tinny song recordings programmed into millions of handsets around the world, jumped 40 percent in the past year to $3.5 billion, according to a study released on Tuesday.

The worldwide sale of ring tones, which started as a marketing gimmick for music labels and mobile phone companies, is roughly equivalent to 10 percent of the $32.2 billion global music market.

Replacing the standard phone ring with a few bars from Elvis or a favorite TV show was first popularized by tech-savvy teenagers in the late 1990s.

The subsequent success of ring tones is a rare bit of good news for the music industry which has been stung by Internet piracy and fickle fans who would rather spend their money on video games than compact discs.

The popularity is also an important revenue generator for indebted mobile phone operators who have invested vast sums on the roll-out of 3G phone networks.

Revenues for ring tones are divided between the music labels, their artists and mobile phone operators. The average price of a ring tone is 60 cents, according to the study by London-based telecommunications consultancy, The Arc Group.

"It's become a very profitable area and there's strong growth ahead," said Richard Jesty, an analyst for The Arc Group.

Ring tone prices vary widely by region, with SK Telecom Co, South Korea's largest mobile carrier, charging the equivalent of 20 cents while Britain's Vodafone charges roughly 1.50 pounds ($2.76), Jesty said.

He forecast that sales will remain brisk through 2008 when downloads will top $5.2 billion. But as higher-power phones come on the market, consumers will turn to downloading larger files such as video games, sport highlights and short video clips.

As is the case with other forms of music, piracy is a problem with a host of small Web sites selling cheap music downloads without authorisation from music companies.

Ring tones and games still lag well behind basic text messaging, which generated $40 billion last year for mobile phone companies. That figure is expected to explode as phone users get into the habit of sending multimedia and picture-messages, Jesty said

gleem · 01-13-2004, 10:05 AM

hmm, I have some ringtone domains.. how can a webmaster get a chunk of that billion bucks, gotta be a way

WiredGuy · 01-13-2004, 11:26 AM

Alright, you've got my attention. Now where are some good affiliate programs behind ringtone sales?

WG

TheEnforcer · 01-13-2004, 11:45 AM

Holy fuck people love to waste their fucking money!

Rich · 01-13-2004, 11:46 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by TheEnforcer
Holy fuck people love to waste their fucking money!

No shit, it's amazing how much a guy will spend on something that makes him look like an ass.

mikeeee · 01-13-2004, 11:49 AM

All you gotta do is get a MP3/wav to mid converter, and you can get all the free tones you want

BradShaw · 01-13-2004, 11:50 AM

2 years ago I told Greg this would be a Billion $ biz. Of course, I never could figure out (or really tried) how to make a buck off of it.

polish_aristocrat · 01-13-2004, 11:50 AM

I had spent money on this few times.
Even my mother ( she does not use the PC at all ) wanted to get her some new ringtone to her mobile.

DTK · 01-13-2004, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by TheEnforcer
Holy fuck people love to waste their fucking money!

exactly

EscortBiz · 01-13-2004, 11:57 AM

im still in shock

gleem · 01-13-2004, 12:07 PM

I can see making a site with little shitty games that cost $1 a peice or something, even screensavers and stuff, but there's no way to get LEGAL ringtones and make money since no one wants original crap you make and you would need to liscense all the music that anyone would want.

You could always do a classical music ringtone site since all the old classical music is public domain now.

Ross · 01-13-2004, 12:11 PM

Yep its big business. I know someone who is getting into it now as well. Set up fee's aren't too steep and he hopes to make a lot of money from it.

That along with something to do with cell fones and adult will make him a rich man.

Moose · 01-13-2004, 12:12 PM

Cell Phone bucks

VeriSexy · 01-13-2004, 12:12 PM

How about a ring tone that sounds like a fart?

jaYMan · 01-13-2004, 12:16 PM

yeah, what Moose said!

CELLPHONEBUCKS

EscortBiz · 01-13-2004, 12:17 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by VeriSexy
How about a ring tone that sounds like a fart?

call it BoobiPhone?

WiredGuy · 01-13-2004, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BradShaw
2 years ago I told Greg this would be a Billion $ biz. Of course, I never could figure out (or really tried) how to make a buck off of it.

How about now, have you figured how to take a sliver of the pie?
WG

WiredGuy · 01-13-2004, 12:23 PM

Please keep posting links to affiliate programs, I'm interested in seeing what you people have used in the past.

WG

Trax · 01-13-2004, 12:28 PM

people really got too much money
i am no fan of that ring tone stuff
i find it so annoying when people have aweful ringtones for example at public places...

vending_machine · 01-13-2004, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BradShaw
2 years ago I told Greg this would be a Billion $ biz. Of course, I never could figure out (or really tried) how to make a buck off of it.

Anyone who's been in Europe in the past 5 years could predict that..

Buying stuff for your cellphone, be it ring tones, logos, dating stuff, has been huge over there for a while and is still growing.

gleem · 01-13-2004, 12:29 PM

I don't see the US rates on this page:
http://cellphonebucks.com/products.php

anyone have one for US webmasters?

Basher · 01-13-2004, 12:31 PM

http://www.mobii.com/

Manowar · 01-13-2004, 12:38 PM

ringtone creation is basically making/finding a midi of a popular song. Getting the ringtone conversion software (something like 10$) and finding a memorable riff within the midi. Find an sms provider to send them out and your sorted

vending_machine · 01-13-2004, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jaYMan
yeah, what Moose said!

CELLPHONEBUCKS

If anyone knows the people that run this program, you might want to inform them that their domains don't work if you emit the www. part of it...

vending_machine · 01-13-2004, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Manowar
ringtone creation is basically making/finding a midi of a popular song. Getting the ringtone conversion software (something like 10$) and finding a memorable riff within the midi. Find an sms provider to send them out and your sorted

Aren't you forgetting that the RIAA wants a piece of that pie?

strobi · 01-13-2004, 01:33 PM

I've been making a few K/month with ringtones for over 3 years now

Only from the Belgian market (http://mobilemagic.be/)

MikeB · 01-13-2004, 01:47 PM

I believe it.....

has anyone else ever hired a musician to program a favorite song of theirs that was not made available in midi or other ringtone format?

Mike B

AdultNex · 01-13-2004, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by strobi
I've been making a few K/month with ringtones for over 3 years now Only from the Belgian market (http://mobilemagic.be/)

jaYMan · 01-13-2004, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by TheEnforcer
Holy fuck people love to waste their fucking money!

Teenagers with disposable incomes?

KRL · 01-13-2004, 04:25 PM

I have some killer ringtone domains that do great traffic.

It's hard to believe its $3.5 Billion. That's $10 Million a day. That would take a hell of a lot of transactions to achieve at the small amounts they charge.

AdultNex · 01-13-2004, 05:19 PM

Waste money? The ringtones are about 2 quarters each.

They're cheap.

AdultNex · 01-13-2004, 05:21 PM

Btw, does anyone have a list of like the top 10 ringtone sites?

quiet · 01-13-2004, 05:25 PM

that's insane.

Death From Above · 01-13-2004, 05:29 PM

I thought about getting into the ringtone market 2 years ago, but lame sms capability in my area prevented it. Time to make it happen...

IKE · 01-13-2004, 05:32 PM

If anyone has some GREAT ringtone domains they want to sell hit me up at [email protected]

slavdogg · 01-13-2004, 06:30 PM

i'm buying ring tones domains
email me [email protected]

EscortBiz · 01-13-2004, 06:34 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by KRL
I have some killer ringtone domains that do great traffic.

It's hard to believe its $3.5 Billion. That's $10 Million a day. That would take a hell of a lot of transactions to achieve at the small amounts they charge.

I know I still cant believe it I just CANT!

Must be a mistake

AdultNex · 01-13-2004, 06:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by EscortBiz

I know I still cant believe it I just CANT!

Must be a mistake

I was thinking the same thing too, I browsed around, and I don't see any high-traffic ringtone "vendors".

Mr. Marks · 01-13-2004, 06:38 PM

That's a lot of ring tones, boy

stocktrader23 · 01-13-2004, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by EscortBiz

I know I still cant believe it I just CANT!

Must be a mistake

I sail short ring tones long time now.

roly · 01-13-2004, 06:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by KRL
I have some killer ringtone domains that do great traffic.

It's hard to believe its $3.5 Billion. That's $10 Million a day. That would take a hell of a lot of transactions to achieve at the small amounts they charge.

they cost £4.50 each ($8.30) in the uk, although they are slightly cheaper in other countries. a lot are sold via magazines and newspapers in the uk, and the big mobile phone companys are really starting to take a big chunk of the pie too by selling them themselves.

AdultNex · 01-13-2004, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by roly

they cost £4.50 each ($8.30) in the uk, although they are slightly cheaper in other countries. a lot are sold via magazines and newspapers in the uk, and the big mobile phone companys are really starting to take a big chunk of the pie too by selling them themselves.

Am I missing something here? I went on a few ringtone sites, and they sell poly tones for $.60 each.

roly · 01-13-2004, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by AdultNex

Am I missing something here? I went on a few ringtone sites, and they sell poly tones for $.60 each.

where abouts in the world you live determines the price, just like with dialers.

KRL · 01-13-2004, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by roly

they cost £4.50 each ($8.30) in the uk, although they are slightly cheaper in other countries. a lot are sold via magazines and newspapers in the uk, and the big mobile phone companys are really starting to take a big chunk of the pie too by selling them themselves.

People pay $8 for a ringtone???

roly · 01-13-2004, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by KRL

People pay $8 for a ringtone???

well i've converted it to US$ from UK£, the bad exchange rate at the moment, makes them probably appear a lot more expensive than they actually are. although £4.50 is still ridicuously high.

IKE · 01-14-2004, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by IKE
If anyone has some GREAT ringtone domains they want to sell hit me up at [email protected]

No one has any good domains for sale?? This is a first.

WiredGuy · 01-14-2004, 11:43 AM

So only cellphonebucks? Come on, post more affiliate programs up here.

WG

JOKER · 01-14-2004, 11:49 AM

Well...

We have ~ 150 domains for the mobile market...

But we don't sell 'em,guess why

Thats a big biz and not too many ppl have realized that yet.

US is going to be in that biz soon,as US Premium Services are implemented as we chat here...

shoot me an email to steven(@)popup.to if you're interested to make some money with our 150 domains,we'll have an Affilli-program soon.

Take care,
JOKER - Steve

AvsTgp · 01-14-2004, 11:50 AM

Lets not get excited!!!!
The bulk of the sales are made through people downloading from their cell phone providers actual sites through their phone not online.
Its called an ewallet and anything you buy gets added to your cell phone bill at the end of the month.
People dont see themselves paying for it, theres no cc it just gets added to your monthly bill, so they see it as insignificant. thats why sales are so high.

Vox · 01-14-2004, 11:53 AM

I found this affilate: http://usa.mediaplazza.com/

Interesting payout, might just give it a try.

01-13-2004, 09:57 AM	#1
EscortBiz Fuck Checks, CASH only! Join Date: May 2002 Location: New York City Posts: 19,422	WOW! Cell phone ring tone sales hit $3.5B http://money.cnn.com/2004/01/13/news...eut/index.htm? Cell phone ring tone sales hit $3.5B Those little jingles are turning into a big business. January 13, 2004: 9:38 AM EST LONDON (Reuters) - Sales of mobile phone ring tones, those tinny song recordings programmed into millions of handsets around the world, jumped 40 percent in the past year to $3.5 billion, according to a study released on Tuesday. The worldwide sale of ring tones, which started as a marketing gimmick for music labels and mobile phone companies, is roughly equivalent to 10 percent of the $32.2 billion global music market. Replacing the standard phone ring with a few bars from Elvis or a favorite TV show was first popularized by tech-savvy teenagers in the late 1990s. The subsequent success of ring tones is a rare bit of good news for the music industry which has been stung by Internet piracy and fickle fans who would rather spend their money on video games than compact discs. The popularity is also an important revenue generator for indebted mobile phone operators who have invested vast sums on the roll-out of 3G phone networks. Revenues for ring tones are divided between the music labels, their artists and mobile phone operators. The average price of a ring tone is 60 cents, according to the study by London-based telecommunications consultancy, The Arc Group. "It's become a very profitable area and there's strong growth ahead," said Richard Jesty, an analyst for The Arc Group. Ring tone prices vary widely by region, with SK Telecom Co, South Korea's largest mobile carrier, charging the equivalent of 20 cents while Britain's Vodafone charges roughly 1.50 pounds ($2.76), Jesty said. He forecast that sales will remain brisk through 2008 when downloads will top $5.2 billion. But as higher-power phones come on the market, consumers will turn to downloading larger files such as video games, sport highlights and short video clips. As is the case with other forms of music, piracy is a problem with a host of small Web sites selling cheap music downloads without authorisation from music companies. Ring tones and games still lag well behind basic text messaging, which generated $40 billion last year for mobile phone companies. That figure is expected to explode as phone users get into the habit of sending multimedia and picture-messages, Jesty said __________________ Spanking, Medical Fetish, Sleeping, Strap-on Anal Lesbians, Girls Fucking Guys, Handjob site REAL HOT, Shemales, Anal and Ass Licking sites 100% Real EXCLUSIVE with amazing retention, ccbill payouts, lots of content FREE FTP HOSTING Promote the largest and oldest member paid escort site, Converts 10 times better then any dating site, CCBill payouts ICQ# 158802076

01-13-2004, 10:05 AM	#2
gleem Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Sunny Land Posts: 5,593	hmm, I have some ringtone domains.. how can a webmaster get a chunk of that billion bucks, gotta be a way __________________ Contact me: \\// E: webmaster /at/ unprofessional.com

01-13-2004, 11:26 AM	#3
WiredGuy Pounding Googlebot Industry Role: Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Canada Posts: 34,486	Alright, you've got my attention. Now where are some good affiliate programs behind ringtone sales? WG __________________ I play with Google.

01-13-2004, 11:45 AM	#4
TheEnforcer Confirmed User Join Date: May 2001 Posts: 2,855	Holy fuck people love to waste their fucking money! __________________ Hit me up below for all your advertising needs!

01-13-2004, 11:50 AM	#7
BradShaw Confirmed User Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: KB's trailer Posts: 7,840	2 years ago I told Greg this would be a Billion $ biz. Of course, I never could figure out (or really tried) how to make a buck off of it. __________________ Sig too big http://www.gofuckyourself.com/gfy_faqs.html Want to use a large banner in your sig??? Contact Eric about getting on as an advertiser - eric AT adult.com

01-13-2004, 11:49 AM	#6
mikeeee Registered User Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 481	All you gotta do is get a MP3/wav to mid converter, and you can get all the free tones you want

01-13-2004, 11:50 AM	#8
polish_aristocrat Too lazy to set a custom title Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 40,377	I had spent money on this few times. Even my mother ( she does not use the PC at all ) wanted to get her some new ringtone to her mobile. __________________ I don't use ICQ anymore.

01-13-2004, 11:57 AM	#10
EscortBiz Fuck Checks, CASH only! Join Date: May 2002 Location: New York City Posts: 19,422	im still in shock __________________ Spanking, Medical Fetish, Sleeping, Strap-on Anal Lesbians, Girls Fucking Guys, Handjob site REAL HOT, Shemales, Anal and Ass Licking sites 100% Real EXCLUSIVE with amazing retention, ccbill payouts, lots of content FREE FTP HOSTING Promote the largest and oldest member paid escort site, Converts 10 times better then any dating site, CCBill payouts ICQ# 158802076

01-13-2004, 12:07 PM	#11
gleem Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Sunny Land Posts: 5,593	I can see making a site with little shitty games that cost $1 a peice or something, even screensavers and stuff, but there's no way to get LEGAL ringtones and make money since no one wants original crap you make and you would need to liscense all the music that anyone would want. You could always do a classical music ringtone site since all the old classical music is public domain now. __________________ Contact me: \\// E: webmaster /at/ unprofessional.com

01-13-2004, 12:11 PM	#12
Ross Ik ben een aap Industry Role: Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Traffic Force Towers, Canada! Posts: 18,874	Yep its big business. I know someone who is getting into it now as well. Set up fee's aren't too steep and he hopes to make a lot of money from it. That along with something to do with cell fones and adult will make him a rich man.

01-13-2004, 12:12 PM	#13
Moose Confirmed User Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Here Posts: 1,548	Cell Phone bucks

01-13-2004, 12:12 PM	#14
VeriSexy Join The Royal Family Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 25,463	How about a ring tone that sounds like a fart? __________________ Looking for a KICK ASS TEEN SPONSOR? Check out ROYAL CASH - THE KING OF TEEN! Incredible webmaster tools FHGs, Morphing Blog and RSS Feeds, Embedded FLV & WMV Videos. With TOP RATIO Sites like TeenStarsOnly.com - Earn $$ with our New Site & Bonus Payouts!! ATMovs.com \| iTeenVideo.com \| TeenSexMovs.com \| TeenSexMania.com

01-13-2004, 12:16 PM	#15
jaYMan peace&profit, Industry Role: Join Date: Jan 2001 Posts: 4,885	yeah, what Moose said! CELLPHONEBUCKS __________________ peace&profit, jaYMan

01-13-2004, 12:23 PM	#18
WiredGuy Pounding Googlebot Industry Role: Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Canada Posts: 34,486	Please keep posting links to affiliate programs, I'm interested in seeing what you people have used in the past. WG __________________ I play with Google.

01-13-2004, 12:28 PM	#19
Trax [----------------------] Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 14,486	people really got too much money i am no fan of that ring tone stuff i find it so annoying when people have aweful ringtones for example at public places...

01-13-2004, 12:29 PM	#21
gleem Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Sunny Land Posts: 5,593	I don't see the US rates on this page: http://cellphonebucks.com/products.php anyone have one for US webmasters? __________________ Contact me: \\// E: webmaster /at/ unprofessional.com

01-13-2004, 12:31 PM	#22
Basher Confirmed User Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Uk_dude Posts: 1,168	http://www.mobii.com/ __________________ my bum itches

01-13-2004, 12:38 PM	#23
Manowar jellyfish Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 71,528	ringtone creation is basically making/finding a midi of a popular song. Getting the ringtone conversion software (something like 10$) and finding a memorable riff within the midi. Find an sms provider to send them out and your sorted

01-13-2004, 01:33 PM	#26
strobi Confirmed User Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Belgium Posts: 7,383	I've been making a few K/month with ringtones for over 3 years now Only from the Belgian market (http://mobilemagic.be/)

01-13-2004, 01:47 PM	#27
MikeB Confirmed User Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 2,012	I believe it..... has anyone else ever hired a musician to program a favorite song of theirs that was not made available in midi or other ringtone format? Mike B

01-13-2004, 04:25 PM	#30
KRL Entrepreneur Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: USA Posts: 31,429	I have some killer ringtone domains that do great traffic. It's hard to believe its $3.5 Billion. That's $10 Million a day. That would take a hell of a lot of transactions to achieve at the small amounts they charge. __________________ If you would like to develop your domains, you can lease inexpensive foreign labor from the leaders in the field at iWebmasters.com TO LOWER YOUR COSTS AND INCREASE YOUR PRODUCTION! * * * * * * * * * * * * Domains Adult News KRL's Newsletter Biz Tips Just Listed Domains

01-13-2004, 05:19 PM	#31
AdultNex Confirmed User Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Bostonnnn Posts: 8,985	Waste money? The ringtones are about 2 quarters each. They're cheap.

01-13-2004, 05:21 PM	#32
AdultNex Confirmed User Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Bostonnnn Posts: 8,985	Btw, does anyone have a list of like the top 10 ringtone sites?

01-13-2004, 05:25 PM	#33
quiet we'll miss you our friend. RIP Industry Role: Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Fernie, BC Posts: 25,115	that's insane. __________________ we'll miss you our friend. RIP

01-13-2004, 05:29 PM	#34
Death From Above Confirmed User Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: australia Posts: 130	I thought about getting into the ringtone market 2 years ago, but lame sms capability in my area prevented it. Time to make it happen...

01-13-2004, 05:32 PM	#35
IKE Confirmed User Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: seattle wa usa Posts: 358	If anyone has some GREAT ringtone domains they want to sell hit me up at [email protected]

01-13-2004, 06:30 PM	#36
slavdogg Confirmed User Join Date: Jan 2001 Posts: 3,570	i'm buying ring tones domains email me [email protected]

01-13-2004, 06:38 PM	#39
Mr. Marks Confirmed User Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Wherever I want Posts: 7,517	That's a lot of ring tones, boy

01-14-2004, 11:43 AM	#47
WiredGuy Pounding Googlebot Industry Role: Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Canada Posts: 34,486	So only cellphonebucks? Come on, post more affiliate programs up here. WG __________________ I play with Google.

01-14-2004, 11:49 AM	#48
JOKER Facit Omnia Voluntas Industry Role: Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Offshore Posts: 2,105	Well... We have ~ 150 domains for the mobile market... But we don't sell 'em,guess why Thats a big biz and not too many ppl have realized that yet. US is going to be in that biz soon,as US Premium Services are implemented as we chat here... shoot me an email to steven(@)popup.to if you're interested to make some money with our 150 domains,we'll have an Affilli-program soon. Take care, JOKER - Steve __________________ Facilitation - BizDev - Traffic - Consulting - Marketing Skype: jokerempire \| Silent Circle: joker

01-14-2004, 11:50 AM	#49
AvsTgp Confirmed User Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 318	Lets not get excited!!!! The bulk of the sales are made through people downloading from their cell phone providers actual sites through their phone not online. Its called an ewallet and anything you buy gets added to your cell phone bill at the end of the month. People dont see themselves paying for it, theres no cc it just gets added to your monthly bill, so they see it as insignificant. thats why sales are so high.

01-14-2004, 11:53 AM	#50
Vox Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Montreal Posts: 2,710	I found this affilate: http://usa.mediaplazza.com/ Interesting payout, might just give it a try. __________________ Social profile assassination for hire