Ringtones Breed Tension Within Music Industry

Ringtones funneled $3.5 billion into music-industry coffers last year, and insiders say they may account for 25% of music sales by the end of 2006, thanks to millions of consumers paying $3 for 25-second versions of songs ' when a full-length version of a hit can be purchased for just 99 cents on a digital music store such as Apple Computer's iTunes. <br>Even more mind-boggling is the disarray this suddenly popular technology has caused, as lawyers for music publishers, record labels, performance-rights organizations, re-cording artists, ringtone vendors and others in the music industry struggle to determine how laws that govern the sales of its products apply to ringtones. Recording companies and publishers have always argued about money, and now they have intellectual-property ambiguities and a gigantic new revenue stream to fight over. Publishers, historically the industry's stepchild, may have the upper hand this time.

15 minute read October 03, 2005 at 04:29 PM
By
Eriq Gardner
Ringtones Breed Tension Within Music Industry

As senior vice president and general counsel for The Harry Fox Agency ' the New York-based collecting agency that acts as a clearinghouse for much of the licensing monies flowing to music publishers ' Jacqueline Charlesworth has spent 4 years helping reap billions of dollars for her firm's clients from the incoming phone-call alerts known as ringtones.

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