Real-
music ringtones wav, snippets of an actual song recording as opposed to a monophonic or polyphonic representation of the song in wav, now make up more than three-quarters of consumer
ringtone spending in the US, according to Telephia. Monophonic and
Crank polyphonic ringtones now only account for 12% of free ringtone revenue, down from nearly 30% in 3Q05. Ringback tones, which first hit the US market in late 2004, account for 11.5% of consumer spending on crank ringtones, an increase of nearly 50% since last year.
According to the market researcher, although the overall
ringtone market is growing, mono- and polyphonic ringtones are losing ground to realtones and ringback tones. Ringback tones lets mobile customers personalize what their callers hear instead of a standard "ring" while waiting for someone to answer the phone.
"It's no surprise that mono- and
polyphonic ringtones have fallen out of favor with mobile consumers as realtones are a far superior format, much like how CDs replaced cassette tapes," said Telephia VP of new products Kanishka Agarwal. "This is all part of the broader shift toward consumers expecting their mobile devices to deliver a high-quality portable music experience."
Labels: crank ringtone poly, crank ringtone wav, credit card fraud, Free crank ringtone, news, Poly Ringtone