The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Ring tones

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Nov 07, 2007
ePaper

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Ring tones – the new style statement

S. Sandeep Kumar

Ring tones are used to publicise one’s taste, personality and sense of humour, reveals a survey

- Photo: Mohd Yousuf

Staying ahead: New ring tones are a rage among mobile users.

HYDERABAD: After gadgets, perfumes, garments and other accessories, it is now ring tones that are fast catching up as a means of making a style statement among mobile users.

Ring tones these days are not just used as alert sound but are used to publicise one’s taste, personality and sense of humour, reveals a survey by city-based IMImobile, a value-added service providing company.

In a nation-wide survey from April 2006 to March 2007 on one million mobile phone users it was found that 90 per cent preferred film numbers as their ring tones, followed by devotional tunes.

Hot favourite

While those residing in metros, especially youngsters, download international ring tones, including rock and pop songs, others favour Bollywood tunes. Hyderabadis prefer Bollywood tunes, while the rest of the State’s populace downloads regional movie tunes, informed IMImobile chief executive officer A.R. Viswanath.

This, as a result, was making film producers tie up with mobile service partners that subsequently is turning out to be another revenue generating stream for them. It is estimated that the ring tone market is over 10 per cent of the total global music market, he explained.

Such is the craze for ring tones that majority of the mobile users do not prefer default tones provided in the handsets and download a new ring tone every month. Some youngsters change their ring tone every two weeks, he adds.

Piracy threat

Of the different types of ring tones available in the Indian market, nearly 61 per cent downloaded are polyphonic tones, followed by MP3 formats at 26 per cent, video tones at 7 per cent and mono tunes at 6 per cent, the study revealed.

Interestingly, the Caller Back Ring tones that are usually avoided in the Middle East, Latin America and other parts of the world are a big hit with Indians. Video tunes that were launched last year in the country are also fast catching up.

Amid all this rage, piracy was slowly eating into the revenues of ring tone downloading. While it costs around Rs. 6 to download a mono tune, Rs. 10 – 15 per a polyphonic tune and Rs. 30 – 40 per a video tune, people preferred side loading (using data cable, Bluetooth or infrared), the study exposed a loss to the tune of 123 million dollars in 2007 on account piracy.

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