Sales of mobile phone ringtones are set to exceed those CD singles in the near future, according to new research from the Mobile Data Association (MDA).
SMS ringtone advertising is now commonplace in newspapers and magazines and and pop songs, TV themes and classical tunes are widely available in monophonic and polyphonic formats.
The MDA estimates that UK ringtone sales will increase by 60% from £40 million to £70 million this year. By contrast, there has beem a drop of over £37 million in CD single sales. The music industry blames piracy and illegal downloading and record labels are being encouraged to introduce legitimate online music services to address the slump in album and single sales (see Music Industry Must Embrace The Net, Says Study).
