Japanese singer Utada Hikaru has apparently sold 7 million “copies” of her single “Flavor of Life” in a whole mess of digital formats, making her the download top dog, even if the number has yet to be vetted by any sort of ranking industry body ’cause said body doesn’t exist. More »
Akon may have been given the boot by Verizon, but that hasn’t stopped his songs from entering the memory mobile phones all across the country: Just recently, Akon grabbed accolades as the highest-selling master ringtone artist of all time, according to information from label SRC/Universal Motown. More »
We’re on record as far as being skeptical about the idea that mobile music, particularly in the form of overpriced ringtones, is going to save the music business, and today’s report from the performing-rights organization BMI forecasts a drop in the ringtone market:
BMI estimates that the 2007 music ringtone market will dip to $550 million (U.S.) in retail sales, down $50 million (U.S.) from calendar year 2006. BMI pegged the market at $600 million (U.S.) in calendar year 2006; $500 million (U.S.) in 2005; $245 million (U.S.) in 2004 and $68 million (U.S.) in 2003, respectively.
But don’t worry, music business! There’s good news ahead–well, sort of.
We here at Idolator are obsessed with charts: Sales charts, best-of charts, even charts that chart other charts. In an attempt to keep track of all the rankings and reports that are compiled on a daily basis, we’ve asked Jackin’ Pop editor Michaelangelo Matos to break down charts from every genre imaginable. After the click-through, he lords over the ringtone rankings.
A recent look at the global wireless market
declared that the market for ringtones has peaked, a statistic which should make many record executives nervous: The mobile music business–which also includes ringbacks (song-snippets callers hear instead of dial tones) and full songs–is projected to bring in as much as $9 billion this year, and ringtones, which in most cases cost two to three times the price of a full song at digital music stores like iTunes, make up a big part of that market.
