The Ringtone Label?
from the you-did-what-now? dept
With the rise of ringtones, it seems that some have really taken the idea and tried to run with it. So far, certainly, ringtones have done well for some companies, but it's still not clear if it's a sustainable market, or a faddish one. There's also the fact that the industry continues to deny that file sharing of ringtones could ever be a risk -- which suggests they're only asking for serious trouble down the road. Still, the latest move is that one company has set up a record label just for ringtones. Because, already, musicians have separate labels for CDs and videos and digital downloads and... wait a second... no they don't. Most musicians basically sign deals with a single recording label to handle all of their musical endeavors, so it seems sort of strange to have an entirely separate label for ringtones only. For recording labels that don't already include this in their standard contracts, they will soon -- and then this new "label" will be out of luck. Of course, the reality is that it's just a way for this company to get a little extra publicity for these "unique" ringtones. Considering that part of the reason ringtones are so popular, though, is that people recognize the songs they represent, it makes you wonder if people really are that interested in songs that are designed just to be ringtones. Seems sort of like a niche market within a niche market.
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