RINGTONES SALES WILL SURPASS HALF BILLION MARK

Performing rights organization BMI, which represents more than 300,000 songwriters, predicts that retail sales of cell phone ringtones in the U.S. this year will surpass $500 million, up from $245 million in 2004 and $68 million in 2003. The organization, which has processed over 150 million ringtone sales since entering the market in 2001, said it based its projection on census-based sales data aggregated from 225 mobile entertainment retailers. "We see the growth trend in ringtones and mobile entertainment continuing through mid 2006," said Richard Conlon, BMI vice president of business development. "We believe that the market will double for the ringtone sector alone. Any revenues derived from the ringback-tone services and mobile subscription music services, which have just begun to roll out in the U.S., will be incremental."