Ringtonesnolongerringingthetills

Thedaysofmakingeasymoneyfromringtonesshortclipsofmusicformobilephonesareover。

Whathasbeenahugelyprofitablebusinessiscomingunderpressurefromanarrowingofthecrazetoasmallergroupofmostlyyoungerpeople，ashiftinthenatureofringtonesthemselves，andgrowingcompetitionamongdistributors。

IntheUKandotherEuropeancountries，wherethefadfirsttookhold，manyofthepeoplewhooncepaid￡2ormorefora10－secondcliphavegivenupbuyingringtones，saidChrisJones，ananalystatCanalys，atechnologyindustryconsultancy：Peopleweredoingitbecauseitwasanewthingtodo。Thathaswornoffwithabigpartofthemarket。IntheUS，wherethebusinessisatamuchearlierstage，thecrazeappearstohavestalledevenbeforeithasreachedamassmarket。Onlyaboutonein10mobilesubscribersisbuyingringtones。Thatisthesameproportionasayearago，accordingtoInfoSpace，aUSringtonecompanythatclaims47percentoftheUSmarket，thoughitaddsthatreliablestatisticsaboutthemarketaredifficulttocomeby。

Atthesametime，thenewbandofdistributorsthatspranguptosellringtonesisfindingthefatprofitsmuchhardertocomeby。Usersarestartingtoswitchawayfromthefamiliarpolyphonicrenditionsoffamoustunestoshortclipsoftheoriginalmusicknownintheindustryastruetonesorrealtones。

Mostoftheprofitsfromthesegostraighttotherecordlabels，notthemiddlemenwhomadeakillingfromearlier，cruderversions。