Comments on: Billboard chimes in on ring tones

The music industry magazine will soon be publishing a list of best-selling ring tones, according to sources.

Best. Joke. Ever.

This is like starting a chart to rate the best lick of a popsicle.

...

No, this is like starting a chart to rate the best lick of an orange
popsicle.

Is there going to be an award for the most original saw-tooth
waveform too?

Music is music...

Ok, so the ringtone product itself may currently be over-priced, under-produced, utterly diposable and transient in the extreme...
But!
Isn't it testament the power of music as a cultural virus (cf: Richard Dawkins and "memes")? Why are some tunes irresistibly catchy, even when reproduced in the least favourable of ways?
There is a very real attraction for ringtone consumers in identifying yourself with a particular tune - it can speak volumes about your identity (or lack thereof). As the technology improves, will you still be as disdainful of master tones that use high-fidelity recordings? Or of video tones?
The walled garden of the mobile market is producing the kind of revenues that the internet took far longer to generate. In many territories, Publishing revenues from mobile ringtone sales are overtaking revenues from single sales. So why shouldn't Billboard keep track of this burgeoning stream? Do you think that by ignoring ringtones, Billboard would be able to make them go away again?

Music is music...

Ok, so the ringtone product itself may currently be over-priced, under-produced, utterly diposable and transient in the extreme...
But!
Isn't it testament the power of music as a cultural virus (cf: Richard Dawkins and "memes")? Why are some tunes irresistibly catchy, even when reproduced in the least favourable of ways?
There is a very real attraction for ringtone consumers in identifying yourself with a particular tune - it can speak volumes about the user's identity.
The walled garden of the mobile market is producing the kind of revenues that the internet took far longer to generate. In many territories, Publishing revenues from mobile ringtone sales are overtaking revenues from single sales. So why shouldn't Billboard keep track of this burgeoning stream?

Walled Gardens produce and support artificial markets.

I think ringtones are extremely useful, but the personalization of
device-based communication will not be based within some
marginally consumable, expensive ($5 ringtone vs $0.99 song?)
token produced by a record company.

The best ringtone I've ever heard (and I am tangentially involved
in the 3G media production business) was produced for one of
my associates by his 2-year-old daughter saying "Your phone is
ringing dad".

As communication technology develops and devices capable of
so much more are introduced to consumers, the market forces
that created the ringtone will no longer exist.

Call originators will be able to pre-identify themselves to call
receivers (possibly through redundantly popular songs
eminating from monotone saw wave modulators) or by their
voice or by their own video image.

Why should people be content communicating identity and
identification through affinity with preproduced tokens and
instead take on the fun of ownership?