Top 10 ringtones downloads for 2007

US mobile operator AT&T has released list of Top 10 downloaded ringtones for year 2007. The most popular ringtone is Party Like A Rockstar, also in the list are This Is Why Im Hot, Crank That, Rockstar, Dont Matter, "Buy You A Drank” by T-Pain feat Yung Joc, "A Bay Bay” by Hurricane Chris, “Beautiful Girls” by Sean Kingston, Pop, Lock and Drop It by Huey and “Big Girls Dont Cry” by Fergie. Astonishingly Kiss Kiss by Chris Brown, No One by Alicia Keys, Stronger by Kanye West are missing. Probably because these songs/ringtones were released towards the end of the year.

Big Names jump on RIngtone wagon

According to Billboard article, US mobile operator AT&T has bagged exclusive access to handful of Dave Matthews Band ringtones. This comes on heels of Van Halen also joining the ringtone bandwagon. But why now? According to Industry sources, bands gave into the ringtone craze along with rock regends AC/DC, Led Zeppelin to name among the latest to give in.

Ringtones Galore

With festive season just around the corner, companyies are vying to attract users to them. US Mobile Operator AT&T is giving holiday ringtones free to its customers. Among the ringtones offered are "Jingle Bells", Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" by Cyndi Lauper, Feliz Navidad and others.
According to San Fernando Valley Business Journal, Indiana Jones ringtones see released in time with the release of the new Indiana Jones Film.
And finally, The King Of Spain outbursts against President of Venezuela, "Why Don't You Shut Up?" has been the latest craze in ringtones industry. It has generated approx. $2 million in sales with approx 500,000 peoples have downloaded different versions of "Shut Up" ringtone.

Ringtone Industry

Hunger for ringtone is showing no sign of reduction in sales. Global ringtone market is forecasted to grow at whopping $5.2 billion annually. Last year (2006) alone ringtones accounted for approx. $32.3 billion or over 10% of the worldwide music market.
The hip-hop artists contribution has accounted for more than half of the ringtones downloaded ringtones. No wonder that artists like 50 Cent, Mariah Carey, Red Hot Chilli Peppers are more than willing to compose ringtones It has already been forecasted by professionals that ringtone sales will surpass that of actual CD sales.
Its interesting to see as the battle between Kanye West & 50 Cent was nothing but a publicity stunt Kanye West had dreamed up to sell more records.

Christmas Ringtones

WIth Christmas fast approaching, US operator AT&T has started offering fetsive ringtones free to its customer.
Jingle Bells of course is the most popular Christas Ringtone along with All I Want for Christmas is You. When Rudolh the Red Nosed Reindeer goes for a Sleigh Ride we truly feel The Bells of Christmas ringin, what a fantastic way to you have your Cellphone ringing on that tunes.
On other note No One by Alicia Keys has been number one on Billboard Top 100 chart for 2 weeks in a row dethroaning Chris Brown's Kiss Kiss which had reigned Top 100 chart for approxiametly 3 weeks.

Top Selling Ringtone

Buy U A Drank by T-Pain feat. Yung Joc has become best selling ringtone to date by selling more than $2.3 million units. To capitalize on popularity of such ringtones music companys release more than one version. Buy U a Drank has 6 versions one featuring Kanye West while other featuring Yung Joc which are 2 of the versions.
Ringtones as an industry has evolved into a multi-billion dollar industry, even though ringtones are despised by many consumers, in US consumers will pay approx $550 million in the year 2007 alone.
Soulja Boy is not ready yet to give up number one spot on Billboard Top 100. Soulja Boy's song "Crank That" has been on Billboard top for consecutive 2 weeks.

Hit and Miss

It has been a very exciting week in songs/ringtones world.
World, especially Britney Spears fans awaiting in anticipation for Britney's comeback. All Britney's Fan wanted to say Gimme More, but unfortunately Britney's VMA comeback was disaster as she tried to keep up with professional dancers lip synching her way to her latest single.
In other news, competition between Kanye West and 50 Cent is getting exciting. With latest reports indicating that Kanye West's latest CD moving closer to 7 figure mark, 50 Cents latest release is at number 2 spot but trailing by more than 200K.
It becomes more interesting as 50 Cent has mentioned that he will "retire" from making solo albums if Kanye West wins the record sales battle. We will keep an eye on it and keep you posted

Ringtone Sales Go Up

Reports received through newsletter estimates that ringtone sales in China have crossed $360 million in year 2006. With many users buying ringtones on weekly basis. Over 80 percent of the mobile users have downloaded more than one song to be used as ringtone.
Here in North America former Amrican Idol winner Carrie Underwoord became only 2nd Country star to earn platinum status for ringtone “Before He Cheats” for one million purchased ringtones. The first country tune to hit million download mark was Waylon Jennings for theme song Dukes of Hazzard.

Ringtones – Way to Go.

With reports that music industry is loosing millions of dollars every year, thanks to illegal download and duplication, Ringtones are catching up. With young generation interested in personalizing their cell phone with variety of ringtones like Fight Ringtones, Animal sounds. Even hot artists like Beyonce are reported to making big bucks from ringtones.
On the other side of world, Animal sounds like Cows Mooing, Rooster Calls are used to draw stray leopards to capture them and later release them at safe distance in the forests. What a technology instead of using live baits. Simple eh!

Roller Coaster Ride

What a roller coaster ride it has been for
ringtones!.
You had This is why I'm Hot by Mims at the top only to be displaced by Shakira & Beyonce with Beatiful Liar.
Makes Me Wonder being overtaken by T-Pain offering to Buy you a Drank.
Justin Timberlake had Sexyback claiming number one but have to creep up slowly with Summer Love.
These are interesting days for ringtones as every artist be it Avril Lavine or Daughtry trying to get attention with one hits after other.
Don’t forget there are tones like Mosquito Tone that still appeal to students like Bee Buzzing.

Spooky

Spooky feleing eh! why not its Halloween time :D, is it not as scary when you see Blood on the TV ? or that Creaking door opening sound which will definately make you Yell in terror. Wondering where did those Ghostbusters have gone? Well guess what, the Thriller feeling you have will definately be gone when you go out for Trick or Treat.
On another note, remember that Mosquito ringtone, yes that same ringtone which only kids can hear (squeaky or scrathing high pitched sound), guess what an UK based company Phat Tonez decided to pull the plug on that ringtone after receiving complaints.

80’s

Who likes 80’s music? Is it the unmistakable synthesizers or is it the mysterious combination of the keyboard guitar (key-tar) that grabs your attention? From the days when Miami Vice ruled primetime TV and George Michael was with Wham!, the 80’s had a lot to offer.

There were bands that never seem to take a day off, like the Men at Work and the daring Men without Hats, who besides their name dance the safest dance of all, The Safety Dance. Hangin’ tough were the New Kids on the Block to the music scene, showing the man-bands the boy-bands were moving in step by step. Some bands were ready to lay it on the line for the chance to Triumph and be a survivor in the eye of the tiger. There are even bands that have lasted the test of time and had the desire to travel streets with no names and stay united to remain U2. From the days when a Flock of Seagulls ran so far and Madonna was like a virgin, there was always something special about the 80’s.

With so many genres of music, trying to place certain bands into categories is an impossible task – hence the genre: 80’s.

Free Easy Ringtone Maker

Have you ever tried to find that special ringtone you want? Your search ends now! Visit Monstertones and make your very own ringtone! Download and install your free Easy Ringtone Maker, pop in a CD or open a file with your favourite song and in minutes you will be signing to your sweet creation.

Making your very own Realtone ringtone is as easy as 1, 2, 3!

1 – Enter your mobile phone number and Carrier.

2 – Select your audio file.

3 – Make your ringtone!

Go to www.monstertones.com and download your free Easy Ringtone Maker application and start making sweet tones!

Mosquito Ringtones

Have you ever wondered how dogs can hear a whistle that makes no sound? Now most adults will wonder how teenagers are hearing their cell phone when there is no sound!

Initially the Mosquito ringtone was meant as a deterrent to loitering teenagers, but now the tables have turned and the teenagers are using it to hear their cell phones while in class - which are supposed to be off. Since you lose the ability to hear high frequency sound as you get older, teachers (mostly) will be none the wiser. It’s the newest craze among teenagers in the UK and its making its way to North America at a rapid pace!

You can get your Mosquito ringtone straight from www.monstertones.com. Catch the Mosquito buzz!

World Cup Ringtones - Follow FIFA World Cup 2006 with personalized ringtones for your team.

FIFA World Cup 2006 is closing in; soon the world is going to switch to soccer mode, are you prepared? Well let’s give all Ringtone and World Cup Soccer fans an early start to get prepared.

We have composed a match schedule that will inform you of the latest games, its location and also provide you with a selection of ringtones for your favorite teams. Surprise your surrounding soccer fans and stand out with your team’s national anthem or the traditional “Ole Ole Ole” ringtones.

Match	Date	Teams and Associated Ringtones			Time/Score
1	9-Jun-06	Germany	GER:CRC	Croatia	18:00	Group A
2	9-Jun-06	Poland	POL:ECU	Ecuador	21:00	Group A
3	10-June-06	England	ENG:PAR	Paraguay	15:00	Group B
4	10-June-06	Trinidad & Tobago	TRI:SWE	Sweden	18:00	Group B
5	10-June-06	Argentina	ARG:CIV	Côte d'Ivoire	21:00	Group C

Thrill Your Phone with Michael Jackson Ringtones

You know the way it makes you feel when you hear that certain song and remember a time? Why not attach a ringtone to that special moment and enjoy the thrill again and again. Featured at www.monstertones.com is an assortment of Michael Jackson ringtones for everyone to jam to. Let your phone out of the closet and release its potential to bring you memories and entertainment and ease on down the road to Monstertones and heal your world with our new classic ringtones.

Whether you’re a stranger in Moscow, a smooth criminal or just plain bad, there is a Michael Jackson ringtone for everyone!

Don’t stop until you get enough great ringtones!

Ringback Tones – Music While You Are Waiting For an Answer

The world of ringtones continues to change with new terms emerging for ringtone fans. Ringtones, Realtones, and Truetones are some of the popular keywords. The latest buzz revolves around “Ringback tones”.

Confused? Well don’t be. Ringback tones are music clips that callers hear when an outgoing call is being placed. Rather than hearing traditional rings on outgoing calls, you will hear your personalized music clips. In order to use this service, you must subscribe for it from your carrier. The following carriers are known to offer this service in the US

Verizon Wireless
T-Mobile
Boost Mobile
Sprint

Say goodbye to boring outgoing rings.

Keep up your collection of ringtones so you can use your collection for your Ringback tones.

Music Artists Coalition – Against Suing Fans and Digital Locks

A number of Canadian Music Creators have formed a coalition that is focused on voicing their goals to reform copyright laws. When major record labels sue music fans on the basis of piracy, they sometimes do so against the artist’s will. These labels also make it impossible to transfer the music into different formats with digital locks.

The Canadian Music Creators Coalition (CMCC) is against the above. CMCC states that government should repeal parts of the Copyright Act to allow music fans to share music and transfer music to different formats for non-commercial purposes.

This is good new for us ringtones fans as one would be able to obtain favorite artists ringtones with ease. Keep posted with the latest CMCC updates at http://www.musiccreators.ca/ .

Ringtones – Staying Cool With Trendy Ringtones

Ringtones come in different formats, monophonic, polyphonic and truetones. Truetones are considered to be the dominant type. Monophonic ringtones are a thing of the past; no one really downloads them unless they are looking to be ridiculed or scheming to irritate someone.

Polyphonic ringtones and MP3 ringtones (Other names for MP3ringtones: Truetones, or Realtones) are able to pack quality and are recognizable in a 30 – 40 sec track.

Polyphonic ringtones are tone based versions of songs that are capable of playing more than one tone at a time. All new phones are able to play up to 40 tones at a time, giving content providers the flexibility to generate ringtones that sounds similar to the original song. On the down side to polyphonic ringtones is the lack of ability to play lyrics.

MP3 ringtones provide a solution for what polyphonic ringtones lack. New phones such as Samsung t509, LG LX350, Nokia N73, Nokia N93 and many others; come with built in MP3 playback support and add-on storage from 32MB to 2GB.

Ringtones have spread through the mobile community. Everyone is now able to have a ringtone for everyday of the week and for every occasion. Ringtones reflect the latest buzz.

The biggest buzz this week is the release of Mission Impossible 3. Get noticed with a Mission Impossible Ringtone. World Cup Soccer is another event highly anticipated by the world for this summer. Support your favorite World Cup team with their National Anthem Ringtones.

Start looking around to find great ideas from TV, Movies, POP Media. Slick up your cell phone with ringtones, wallpapers, games and other mobile content.

Monstertones provides a central location to download ringtones and wallpapers in the hottest categories. Also www.CNET.com has composed a top 10 games list for your cell phone.

IDenity 2.0 - Solutions for easy access to ringtones

Ever wonder what the name of that catchy new tune on the radio is? Ever wonder why you can’t have instant access to this information? Well struggle no longer - there is now a solution for Verizon Wireless customers.

It’s called “IDenity” and the new version, 2.0, was released at CTIA 2006 by Rocket Mobile. This application allows you to identify songs from any source such as a car radio and obtain the associated ringtone.

The song identification application is able to detect over two million songs whether it is classical tunes, rock tunes or various dance tunes with a 10 second sample. It will also display the artist, song and album title after successful recognition. This neat application simplifies the search for new ringtones or calltones.

For more information on this service go to http://www.verizonwireless.com and http://www.RocketMobile.com

Music Artists – Making music available through ringtones and calltones

Over the past few weeks artists have begun to make their music available as a ringtone, mastertone or calltone through carriers and their recording companies.

Virgin Mobile USA and Virgin Records announce that some Virgin record labels will now be available as ringtones exclusively to Virgin Mobile’s members of the “First Dibs” program.

US Carrier Sprint organized a deal with Pearl Jam to make the first single of their new album available as a ringtone through the website Fanscape.

It’s not just the new artists and songs that are being promoted through ringtones, original hits from the past are also emerging. Abba original hit songs are being released as hit ringtones by Universal Music Mobile with approval from the song writers. The ringtone releases include “Dancing Queen” ringtone, “Mama Mia” ringtone, “Waterloo” ringtone, “Money, Money, Money” ringtone and others.

Artists and recording companies are realizing the potential of using mobile media as a launching platform for their music. As the mobile market is growing with the increased number of users there will be more ringtone, real tone, or master tone releases from your favorite artists.

So Readers, keep an eye out as we will attempt to keep up with this trend and bring the latest news on ringtones and mobile content for your favorite artists.

Links:
www.ringingphone.com
www.umusic.com
www.zim.biz

Theme tones that last forever

With the ringtone market exploding in North America theme ringtones are helping lead the way. Who wouldn’t recognize the James Bond theme as your ringer? Same goes for the Super Mario Brothers theme?

That is the appeal of themes as ringtones – they are short enough to be a solid 30 to 40 second song and they are independent of the genre of music you like. Everyone has seen a TV Show or a Movie and once they hear the theme the link between the two is instant.

With the growing popularity of TV and Movie Theme ringtones, this is a great way to personalize your cell phone. There are timeless themes such as the James Bond Theme and Bonanza Theme as well as new themes such as Desperate Housewives.

Themes are so popular that video game themes are a main stay in the Hot Ringtone Chart provided by billboard.com. The Super Mario Brothers Theme from way back, has been on the chat for 78 weeks – that is the longest of any ringtone on the chart. That is the beauty of a theme tone: staying power.

Use your voice to launch applications and find content.

As new technologies were revealed at CTIA Wireless 2006, there was one that was catching attention; the ability to use voice to perform mobile searches, find ringtones, wallpapers, videos, games etc, by simply talking into your phone. The two companies that have commercialized this are Promptu and V-Enable.

The technology allows you to speak commands such as “Find Sean Paul Ringtone” and the result would be a listing of Sean Paul ringtones from the carrier’s store. The same can be done for other content. Supported carriers so far are Altel, Cricket Communications, U.S. Cellular and Verizon Wireless.

Technologies dedicated to helping consumers get the content they want accurately is what will bring up sales for mobile content. For example ringtone sales are estimated to hit $600M in the U.S. this year according to BMI who has been tracking ringtone sales since 2001.

This in turn allows ringtone distributors to bring the prices down. Ringtone sites such as www.monstertones.com have been able to reduce its subscription rates by almost 40% over the weekend. Hopefully this will be a trend that will be picked up by many other ringtone sites.

Cell Phones – Trends in the usage of the full potential of a device

Why have cell phones become a key item in everyone’s lives? Why does one need it? Well, the obvious answer is to stay connected with your friends and with the world. It is a form of comfort knowing that we are not too far from help.

Since cell phones are becoming essential in your day-to-day business, why walk around with a bland/typical cell phone? Spice it up, personalize your phone. Custom features such as ringtones, wallpapers, screen savers, and screen themes are just a few of the upgrades to improve the look and feel of a cell phone.

Even though a vast number of people title their cell phones as “my precious”, latest studies by Pew Research Center’s Pew Internet & American Life Project, the Associated Press and statistics from AOL reveals some surprising results form various scenarios.

1) 6 % of cell phone users play games on their cell phones for example, while 19% wishes they had that feature. 2% of cell phone users watch mobile video or TV, while 14% do not and would like to.
2) Simpler mobile entertainment - 65% of users have customized their cell phones with ringtones or wallpapers and 8% of these users have voted on American Idol with their cell phones.
3) Usage in the different generations - 23% of users of ages 18-29 wanted to watch TV on their cell and only 15% of the 30-49 age groups wanted it. 4% of ages 50-64 and 6% of ages 65 and over wanted to have the mobile entertainment features.

These numbers indicate that users are not fully aware of the full potential of their cell phones. Cell phones,such as the Nokia 6683, N91, Motorola’s Razor, Samsungs SGH-D520, come with sophisticated sound, video, gaming and other media support. One would learn a lot if you were to dig deep into the owners’ manual provided by these cell phone manufacturers.

Signing On: Cheaper mobile content through service providers.

ZIM Corporation has now integrated with CoolRingtones blog and we are thrilled to bring our readers the latest and hottest news on mobile content with our devoted focus on the ringtone industry. In order to start this off, let us talk about what is new in the world of mobile content and what it has to offer.

SMS, ringtones, wallpaper for your cell phone, and other mobile content are in high demand. Fixed rates per content type, regulated by service providers, have kept many cell phone users away from exploring the full potential of the mobile domain. Motorola Inc. and Bytemobile Inc., leaders in IP services for mobile networks, have joined forces to bring about a solution to help service providers increase their revenue per user by allowing ways to personalize selling and charging for content services.

Motorola’s Intelligent Charging Solution allows service providers to charge according to size and content type of every message sent. Thus service providers could offer cost effective packages or services that accurately reflect customer needs.

"The ability to integrate Unison network services with GAMA enables us to help Motorola deliver unified end-to-end solutions that decrease latency, reduce network operating costs, and improve service and capacity for customers," said Adrian Hall, Bytemobile's vice president, Business Development.

About Bytemobile

For mobile network operators and enterprises, Bytemobile enables deployment of true high-value solutions that offer rapid payback, impressive ROI, and increased customer satisfaction. More than 60 mobile network operators around the world have already deployed Bytemobile’s market-leading solutions. Their networks are faster, have greater capacity, and are much more efficiently integrated. As a result, they deliver better value and profitability, enable greater productivity, and provide an enhanced online user experience.
To find out more about Bytemobile, please visit http://www.bytemobile.com .

About Motorola

Motorola is known around the world for innovation and leadership in wireless and broadband communications. Inspired by our vision of Seamless Mobility, the people of Motorola are committed to helping you get and stay connected simply and seamlessly to the people, information, and entertainment that you want and need. We do this by designing and delivering the "must have" products, "must do" experiences and powerful networks - along with a full complement of support services. A Fortune 100 company with global presence and impact, Motorola had sales of $36.8 billion in 2005.
To find out more about Motorola, please visit http://www.motorola.com/ .

Signing Off: The Cool Ringtones Blog

On April 1, the Zim Corporation of Ottawa, Canada will be acquiring the Advanced Internet division of Advanced Telecom Services. As part of this acquisition, goes not only the ringtone sites, Ringingphone.com and Monstertones.com, but also the Cool Ringtones Blog.

I am very excited to now be part of a company like Zim that has leadership from such a seasoned and successful businessman as Dr. Michael Cowpland. Under his leadership, I'm sure Advanced Internet's products will flourish and the readers of the Cool Ringtones Blog will continue to read important articles about the ringtone industry here at the blog.

I am very appreciative of the many readers of the blog. When I check our stat visitors from the past two years and see regular readers from Japan, Korea, the Phillipines, South Africa, and Australia, I know that we must have been writing something that was of interest to you. It's amazing that a little innocuous thing like ringtones can have such international appeal.

Thanks to all of you who have made the Cool Ringtones Blog a great success! We certainly hope you have enjoyed reading these articles as much as we've enjoyed writing them.


--
Anthony Wayne (Publisher-Cool Ringtones Blog)
Bob Bentz (Co-Owner -- Advanced Internet)

Zim Announces Agreement to Acquire Ringingphone

ZIM Announces Agreement to Acquire US Mobile Content Provider

ZIM enhances its mobile offering through strategic acquisition

Ottawa, Canada - March 28, 2006 - ZIM Corporation (OTCBB: ZIMCF), a global mobile service provider, aggregator and application developer for the mobile market, today announced it has agreed to acquired a U.S.-based mobile content company, Advanced Internet Services Inc., in a combined share and cash deal worth approximately $1.1 million.

ZIM will issue 10 million shares, representing approximately 14% of the issued and outstanding shares of the company, post issuance. The acquisition provides ZIM an immediate entry to the mobile content market and a proven mobile content-delivery platform.

ZIM expects the transaction to be completed by April 1, 2006, subject to the completion of customary transaction documents and closing conditions. "We are further expanding our mobile offering with the acquisition of Advanced Internet Services, as they have two of the top 15 mobile content sites, Monstertones.com and ringingphone.com," said Dr. Michael Cowpland, President and CEO of ZIM. "This acquisition is part of the move into mobile content that we announced in February, 2006. With this acquisition, we hope to leverage our relationships and technical expertise to expand our role in the mobile market. In addition to the Monstertones.com and ringingphone.com portals, ZIM will be providing mobile content through other dedicated portals."

Founded in 2002, Advanced Internet Services was one of the first independent websites in North America to offer cell phone ring tones and wallpapers. The ring tone sites host a large catalog of polyphonic and MP3 ring tones for music spanning from the 1950’s to the most popular current hits. In addition to offering popular music ring tones, the websites offer a wide variety of unique content, including funny and sexy ring tones and a large collection of urban ring tones.

"ZIM and Advanced Internet Services both believe in the potential of the mobile content market," said Bret Dunlap, Founder and CEO of Advanced Telecom Services, the parent of Advanced Internet Services. "We are very excited about this transaction with ZIM, as we believe the mobile content opportunities in North America are still in the early stages. As an aggregator of mobile data services, ZIM is perfectly positioned to capitalize on this burgeoning new market opportunity."

About ZIM

ZIM is a mobile service provider, aggregator and application developer for the mobile market. ZIM’s bridges the gap between data and mobility. For more information on ZIM and its customers, partners and products, visit: http://www.zim.biz/.

BingoHouse Announces New Online Bingo Web Site

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BingoHouse, an online bingo web site, announces that it's new site will soon be debuting on BingoHouse.com. To celebrate, BingoHouse is offering a 200% initial sign up bonus for new online bingo accounts. It's never been a better time to try your hand at online bingo.

Ringtones a Source of Stress?

According to Personnel Today, ringtones are among one of the annoyances in the workplace in the UK. Also sited as annoying was the person who never offers to make tea, the co-worker who eats smelly food at lunch time, and the secretary who spreads unfounded gossip.

Now, having worked with a colleague who used to cook macaroni & cheese every day in the microwave, I totally get the smelly food one And, I also understand you concern over tea as I recall it starting a war in Boston just over 200 years ago. But ringtones?

Ringtones & Premium Content to Hit $43 billion

Cell phone premium content, which includes ringtone sales, is expected to exceed $43 billion by 2010, according to a study by iSuppli Corp. The study says that the 2004 market for premium content was $5.2 billion worldwide.

Mobile music, specifically ringtones and ringtunes, is the largest and fastest growing premium content segment in the wireless world. The market for ringtones made great strides in 2005 as it rapidly grew to a $3.8 billion industry.

At the same time, revenue from mobile games increased by about 80 percent in 2005. Mobile video also shows great potential, but is still in its early stages, even in Asia which has been recognized as the leader in the mobile industry. Mobile TV is still relatively new and the study estimates that only 12% of total phones sold by 2010 will be TV enabled.

42% of Teens Frequently Download Mobile Ringtones

It may not come as a surprise to some, but teenagers are much more likely – about twice as likely actually – to download ringtones for their cell phones.

Pop culture is booming with artists such as 50 Cent, Shakira and Fall Out Boy and teens are scrambling for the hottest ringtones for their cell phones.

According to a recent study by Usable Products Company, 42% of mobile phone users, aged 14 to 17 download ringtones at least once a month. This compares to just 21% of adults aged 25 or over.

Numbers like this are the whole basis of advertising strategy within the ringtone market, and with most other types of mobile entertainment. Companies have learned that advertising on TV shows and websites with large teen audiences can yield significantly better results than promoting to older users.

Top 15 Ringtone Sites Revealed

Top 15 Ringtone Sites Revealed

By Anthony Wayne
Publisher – Cool Ringtones Blog (http://www.coolringtones.com/)

New York – Advanced Telecom Services placed two of its ringtone sites on Top Ten Reviews (http://www.toptenreviews.com/) review of the nation’s top ringtone sites. MonsterTones (http://www.monstertones.com/) and Ringingphone (http://www.ringingphone.com/), were both listed among the nation’s Top Ringtone Sites according to the online ratings service.

Both Ringingphone and MonsterTones received top ratings for “Ease of Use” scoring a perfect four out of four rating. The sites also scored 3 ½ out of 4 in “Features” and “Selection of Ringtones.”

“There are a lot of good ringtone sites out there and I’m pleased to see that we were recognized for providing a no nonsense approach to ringtones since 2001,” said Bob Bentz, marketing manager for MonsterTones. “We spend a lot of time on ringtone content so I was pleased to see we scored so well there.”

Industry analysts project the national ringtone market size to be $600 million and still growing. Just two years ago, the US ringtone market was a mere $75 million. Billboard Magazine (http://www.billboard.com/ ) sees the market as being so significant that it now ranks the Top 40 ringtones each week. “Grillz” by Nelly featuring Paul Wall, Ali & Gipp ranks number one on the Billboard ringtone charts this week.

Part of the reason for the continued growth of ringtones has been the profound improvements to the technology. What was once a business of monophonic ringtones that sounded like playing the piano with one finger soon evolved into a business of polyphonic ringtones that sound like an orchestra playing the song. Today, MP3 ringtones, also known as realtones, dominate the industry as more cell phones have the capability of adding actual vocals to their ringers.

Anthony Wayne is publisher of the Cool Ringtones Blog—a blog that has been reporting on the ringtone industry for two years. Wayne has 57 ringtones on his Motorola RAZR phone.