What's That Ringing in My Wallet?

Think individuality! You know, the kind of uniqueness that only comes from dressing like all your friends, driving the same car all your friends drive, listening to the same music all your friends listen to, and having a ringtone by the same artist all the other cool kids listen to. According to a recent News.com article, ringtones topped $4 billion in sales during 2004. Most of those annoying sounds originate from the same industry that claims p2p networks are killing their business because they can't make any money with music.

I will continue to argue the record industry should stop selling music, give it away and make up the difference in more ringtone sales. Every song ever released on CD and many never released on CD are available on p2p networks within minutes of the CD hitting store shelves (sometimes before the CD is released). This isn't likely to change with lawsuits and threats from the industry. Ringtones are the secret sauce to keep the music industry in business while resolving the problem of people preferring free downloads over paid purchase for full length tracks.

I admit, there's something fun (and even functional) about customizing your phone with specific ringtones for specific people. It's far easier to remember which songs are associated with VIP callers like the wife, the boss or the CEO of your top business partner using a ringtone than it is to look at the screen on your phone while driving. Who doesn't want to associate their boss with the imperial march played everytime Darth Vader steps into frame? Or maybe hear the chorus of The Bitch is Back by Elton John when the ex-wife is calling?

I purchased 3 ringtones back when polyphonic sounds were first introduced to the cell phone space. Now I can create my own for my Audiovox SMT5600. I subscribe to Napster for most of my new music listening and still by the occasional CD.

For those who prefer CD to downloadable formats, the record industry needs to drop prices. They could save themselves millions each year by leaving those anti-copy solutions off their shiny disks. I'll buy $10 CDs from bands I've never heard of. The $15-20 prices charged at most retailers is outrageous. Someone got greedy, which is part of the reason file sharing became a problem in the first place. Better to take control over what's given away free online by doing it themselves and write the full length songs off as marketing expenses to sell more 15-60 second clips.

Posted by Jake

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What's That Ringing in My Wallet?

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