There is no denying that mobile media has emerged as a strong, marketable commodity in recent years. As the mobile phones that store them hit it big and found their way into everyday consumers’ pockets and palms, so has mobile content followed suit by allowing users to extend their personalities into their mobile phones through wallpapers and ringtones. The entertainment industry has tied up fairly well with the mobile content industry in this regard – users will often select a favorite movie or actor or actress – or even, in some cases, characters – to be the central images in their wallpaper, and a favorite song will generally be the central basis of a ringtone.
However, analysts are suggesting that in recent years the ringtone market has peaked and is currently on a swift slide downward, making mobile content a decreasingly steady commodity despite the heights that it was able to reach as a marketable item. Nielsen RingScan is positing that 2009 will be another year for ringtone sales to spend in the slump, as Billboard reveals that sales are down by 23 percent. Mobile music sales stay minimal, although handset producer and wireless service providers now offer full-track downloads via a variety of platforms. Apple, in particular, has emerged as a content provider and innovator that has seemingly paved the way for a new way to market mobile media – and could spell a new way to market ringtones as well.
Apple recently posted a wave of updates, mostly regarding the company’s iPod offerings for holiday season 2009 – and among the less-focused-on updates was an announcement from CEO Steve Jobs stating that the company would be selling ringtones via the iPhone at a price of $1.29 per ringtone. This basically means that the 30-second sound clips will now be available to some 30 million iPhone users worldwide. Even mobile analysts at SNL Kagan seem to be (cautiously) optimistic about this latest move, suggesting that if any company could turn it around, Apple just might, as John Fletcher has remarked that those at apple Apple “are defining music” at the moment.
Apple has already made attempts to infuse their mobile music offerings with ringtones, previously charging 99 cents to convert a song that a user had already ordered via iTunes into a ringtone, but this service was limited to the US and reportedly ended up being a cumbersome experience. The new offering – planned to be offered wherever the iPhone is, except in Japan, Germany and Ireland – is projected to be a much simpler affair, although whether or not the $1.29 charge will be worth the ready-made tone to users who have largely figured out how to make their own tones for free is anyone’s guess at this stage.
Interestingly, although there are already plenty of ringtone-selling apps availabie via Apple’s own App Store, Apple has certain advantages – iTunes integration being the foremost one, meaning that ringtone purchases and storage will be tied to the ringtone buyer’s iTunes account. Price is certainly a notable factor as well. $1.29 is already a considerable bargain, especially taking into account that ringtone royalties – once much higher than full-track royalties, a factor that certainly has affected their final price – are being negotiated downward, and Apple’s influence might encourage other providers to initiate negotiations with the relevant music labels as well.
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