A detail that seems hidden in all the fuss over declining music sales by the RIAA and the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), is the fact that people bought over $9 billion USD worth of ringtones worldwide last year. That’s right, $9 billion USD! This is about a 41% increase over last year and is expected to hit about $32 billion USD by the year 2010.
What makes this so odd is that on average we’re talking about people shelling out $2 bucks for a 10 second clip of what they could normally purchase in it’s entirety for half the price. That’s 3% of the real product at 200% the price. What’s even more ironic is that $6 billion USD of the total ringtone sales were spent on those crappy mono and polyphonic style ringtones that make even karaoke machines cringe.
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) reported that worldwide music industry sales were about $20 billion in 2006, down from $21 billion in 2005. Their RIAA counterpart blamed uncooperative governments, unethical college students, 10-year old kids, a paralyzed man, and in the case of all cases, even the deceased. They pretty much blamed everyone and everything twice over for a failed strategy that’s been maddeningly obvious to everyone else but them for years now.
Some of have pointed out how the biggest wrinkle in their argument blaming file-sharing as the main reason for their declining music sales is the fact that people are no longer forced into buying a $20 dollar USD CD anymore. In the “old” days you had two choices, buy an overpriced album in its entirety or physically find a friend who already had to make a copy. For years they profited on the backs of poor college students who the RIAA had enough gall recently to refer to as “its best customers.” It’s like Big Tobacco or something patting you on the back like an old friend while you secretly know that its just your customer loyalty that it cares about.
Now you can’t blame a business group for being concerned about profits, capitalism does run the show but, at what point does somebody stand up at one of their catered meetings and say “Hey, uh, Mr. CEO guy, more people hate us than George Bush. I think we’re going about things the wrong way.” I mean seriously, if people actually pause to choose who they despise more — George Bush or the RIAA — you have got some major problems.
Again, what’s lost in the RIAA’s argument is how music sales haven’t decline, THE ALBUM has. As Ars Technica furthered:
The easy availability of digital music makes it possible for music fans to cherry-pick their favorite songs. In high school, I bought Abacab (yes, I’m old) in LP form by Genesis primarily because of the title track and “Dodo/Lurker.” 26 years later, I would have just snagged those two tracks from the iTunes Store.
He’s right, I mean who does buy a whole album anymore? Everyone I know grabs the actual few tracks that are actually good on album instead of buying the whole album.
I would argue that DIGITAL MUSIC SALES in and of itself are the real reason for an overall decline in total music sales.
But, what’s odd, that seems strangely removed from the argument is the profits made from ringtones sales. Gartner research claims $9 billion USD in worldwide ringtone sales while the IFPI claims about $1 billion USD. Even if you take a leap of faith and say Gartner’s claims must be false and say 50% of the figure is accurate, that’s more than enough BILLIONS to cover the supposed $1 billion USD they lost last year. Furthermore, they’re making cash on what is truly an inferior product to say the least.
Do they leave it out because they’re really talking about declining album sales, the fabled fancy $20 dollar store-bought commodity of old? Or is it because they consider ringtone sales to be some sort of non-music product that shouldn’t be fully accounted for? When we’re talking about a 10 second clip I could actually buy this argument but, a sale is a sale and all profits must be accounted for as they always like to point out.
I still can’t understand why people wouldn’t just buy the real deal instead of an overpriced ringtone clip and either edit or convert it. I know some aren’t “technophiles,” if that’s what understanding a simple conversion or audio editing program means but, honestly, after you buy one or two ringtones isn’t it worth the effort?
Irregardless, the fact that they are making increasing profits from ringtone sales ought to make them at least quit the whole “declining sales” bit and accept that it’s merely a “declining business model” to blame for their woes.
Better yet, they ought to realize they were the ones who helped to usher in the digital music era a long time ago when they threw physical CD stores under the bus in deals with Wal-Mart and other discount stores to sell them at a loss to lure customers.
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I’d be interested in knowing how much of that $9 billion dollars the original artists got.
There was a bill in congress recently to give the artists less and the record companies more if I am not mistaken.
The ringtone market is a mature industry now the artists their management and their financial advisers will also be aware of the money earnt by the record companies with their work from ringtones thus there is no way they wont be collecting their share of the royalties of it.
maybe the reason is
1. ringtones are only maybe 4 tracks of midi (witch is just the basics of the song) and real songs can have 16+tracks
2. ringtones are 10 seconds (not long enough to be able to re master a new song even 30 second songs that are not much more than a loop.
3. ring tones cant be extracted and shared.
@Signa it depends on your phone.
The point is that they say they lost 1 billion last year but claim only 1 billion in sales of ringtones when its clear the figure is really 9 billion. Even if the 9 is way off and more like 3 or 4 that means they made money or at least broke even. Thats my point.
When you are the personification of a Meglo-maniacal ego maniac with a God Complex on steroids; you pick and choose which bits of the Truth you allow the “dirty unwashed masses” to know…is why the ringtones are not talked about.
@StormNinja
You are so wise….as wise as a true ninja perhaps
Why pay for ringtones? If possible Google will show how to hack your phone. I have an LG MP3 phone from Verizon. A $5 dollar cable and 5 minutes of my time and I have full Mp3 quality ringtones not that Midi nonsense. 30 different songs for 30 different people and metallica’s Damage Inc. for restricted numbers just so I don’t waste my time getting up to look at who’s calling.
Wow u took the time to select different ringtones for everybody in your phonebook? Thats crazy.