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True tones — a bone of contention?

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CIOL Bureau
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Sathya Mithra and Chinmayee S

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BANGALORE: Almost one year into their introduction in the market, ringtones have grown to become the kings of SMS-based mobile data services in the country. Even as ringtones have become a money-raker for the service providers, the number of downloads is expected to grow exponentially in the next few years, says Gartner.

So far, ringtones in India come in two avatars: the basic mono and the more sophisticated polyphonic tone. This is unlike the European and US markets where true tones are the current rage. True tones offer the original recording of songs instead of re-composition. According to various players in this segment, this next step in ringtones, will be introduced in the country in the next few months.

“True tones can hit India within the next two to three months or so. In fact, we have been in discussion with the copyright societies and the music industry to obtain the relevant permissions to use these tones”, says Tarun Mohan, MD of phoneytunes.com, a popular provider of ringtones to service providers and portals. Unlike the mono and polyphonic ringtones, true tones can be downloaded only with the aid of GPRS enabled mobile phones, supported by the relevant network capabilities.

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According to Mohan, the lack of widespread network support and the appropriate high-end phones have been the limitations to the entry of true tones in India.

Major service providers, though, have confirmed that their networks are “ready” for true tones. Airtel has already deployed what they call pan-India GPRS network and Hutch’s new MMS services operate through their GPRS networks, which are already available in the major metros. When contacted, one of the major national service providers said that though the GPRS network was in place and phones were readily available in the market, it was the content which was missing to bring true tones to life in India. They also reiterated that with the present capacity it was possible to download international true tones even now.

While this indicates a disturbing rift between the network operator and the content provider, the third party involved in the saga of bringing true tones to mobiles, the handset manufacturer, seems to be taking a different route. One international mobile manufacturer, who had recently launched their own free service for downloading ringtones and wallpapers, said that they will be introducing true tones as part of their service in the very near future. According to this manufacture, they already have an album of true tones ready and are poised to launch it.

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With 60% growth globally, ringtones are a rage today, with young people changing ringtones once a week.

Boon or bane?

Just as ringtone downloads shoot up in India and globally, the music industry is hit by dipping sales of music CDs and tapes. Despite the fact that ringtones are often used in promos for music albums, the ringtone business and the music industry share a rather uneasy relationship. For one, the music industry purports that some portals offer “illegal” ringtones without paying due royalties. Also, the bulk of the revenue from ringtones goes to the service provider and not to the music company. For every downloaded ringtone - worth Rs 7 on an average - Rs 5 goes to the service provider and the music company gets a paltry Rs 1.50. The other side of the story though says that ringtones act as a double advantage to the music industry by being a marketing vehicle while bringing in valuable royalty.

The appearance of true ringtones on the scene raises questions on whether they are tools to edge out the real thing or catalysts for boosting music sales. In this way, true tones can either make the scene murkier or facilitate increased co-operation between the service provider and the music industry.

A joint report by CIOL Bureau & CNS

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