By now it’s become very obvious to any marketeer that the potential business to be pulled out of the commercialization of ringtones is one that can’t be underestimated. Bands are very eager to enter the charts of the most downloaded ringtones with their latest new hit single, because it tends to be a very good popularity index. But what if we were to reverse this ongoing business and release the hit single after the ringtone has hit the charts? Cingular Wireless is trying it out with Coldplay’s newest.
They’ve signed the deal with EMI Group’s Capitol Records, and went ahead with the testcase. CNet has published the following about it :
[For the music industry the] “labels want to make up for falling CD sales figures, and to date, digital-song stores like Apple Computer’s iTunes have filled only part of the gap. The strong interest worldwide in ring tones has led the labels to see the prospects of new profit potential.”
“The Coldplay ring tone, drawn from the upcoming single “Speed of Sound,” can be accessed by Cingular subscribers on the company’s website. The song isn’t due to hit radio airwaves until April 18, and the album won’t be released until June.”
“John Burbank, Cingular vice president of marketing, said the program came out of discussions with Coldplay’s manager, who was looking for an original way to promote the band’s new album. The wireless carrier afterwards took the idea to other record labels, which also agreed to provide content for the program.”
Let’s see if this new approach works. If so, it could be a great test to see if a song has a serious ‘hit-potential’ or not. That information could save producers and record companies a lot of money on the marketing budget.
Click here and read it all on C Net’s News.com