Ringback Tones Lead Mobile Music Market Growth in ’08

BMI has released its annual mobile music market
projections for 2008 and figures for 2007, projecting that ringback
tones will surpass $210 million in U.S. retail sales during calendar
year 2008, up 50% from BMI’s 2007 market estimate of $140 million. A
ringback tone is a musical work that is performed to the caller when
they place a call to a participating mobile subscriber.

BMI also predicted that the U.S. ringtone market will continue to
decline in 2008, generating approximately $510 million in retail sales
for the calendar year. This represents a $40 million or 7% reduction
from calendar year 2007, marking the second consecutive year that the
U.S. ringtone market has waned. BMI pegged the 2007 market at $550
million (U.S.) in retail sales, down $50 million from the prior year.
The company estimates the ringtone domain experienced sales of $600
million in calendar year 2006; $500 million in 2005; $245 million in
2004 and $68 million in 2003, respectively.

BMI’s conclusions are based on comprehensive data derived from the
buying behavior of more than 200 million of the current 220 million
United States mobile subscribers. 

“The market for ringback tones has grown stronger than we originally
forecasted last year,” said Richard Conlon, BMI Vice President, New
Media & Strategic Development. “Its growth, coupled with the
positive gains that streaming mobile media have made in 2008 alone,
supports our bullish point of view on the growth of the mobile
entertainment business. We see gains in mobile audio and mobile
television style services in the coming years as well. As we forecasted
last year, the ringtone market continues to decline as the novelty
phase wears off and lower-priced substitutional products come to
market.”

BMI tracks titles and revenues associated with ringback tone
services, streaming audio, streaming audio/visual and ringback tone
services.  The company’s database of earnings and titles is believed to
be the most comprehensive in the industry. BMI uses the data that it
collects to distribute public performance royalties on a pro-rated
basis to its affiliated songwriters, composers and music publishers.