ringtones | The Music Snob

Recently we took a look at Myxertones and Xingtone, two companies that enable independent artists to sell music via ringtones and make some extra cash. The people at Myxertones were nice enough to send us some more info on a few features that are also available that we all might want to know about:

In addition to our free “MyxerTag” (aka our widgets for blogs, Myspace, Facebook, etc.) and “MyxerCode” (the custom artist/item codes which empower users to download content directly to their mobile phones) which you mentioned in your post, Myxer also provides something called a Fanlist to all artists, free of charge.

A Fanlist allows fans to opt-in to receive SMS text announcements directly from the artist/band. Limited to around 110 characters, these “text blasts” are intended to further connect artists to fans by allowing artists to send timely announcements to fans’ phones. Many artists use this feature to announce upcoming tour dates, or updates to their Myxer ringtone offerings. (I’m a fiction writer, and use the service to distribute serialized short stories.) The service is free for both artist and fan. Fans can opt-out of the “fanblast” service at any time.

In addition to selling ringtones and wallpapers, artists can also sell videos via our service, as well.

For more ambitious content creators, Myxer also offers access to its free API, which can be used to further customize the distribution of an artist’s Myxer mobile content.

For more Myxer info you can check out their blog here.

There are many online services available these days that quickly and easily help you sell your music as ringtones, or turn album art into mobile phone wallpaper. These services will give you your own mobile content store that you can embed in your MySpace page or on other sites, and give your fans new ways to enjoy your creations.

Caveat: Do people really use ringtones? I’m not sure. While I exist in a bubble insulated by snobbery and isolation, I hear that human consume ringtones in supersize quantities, and that people are actually willing to pay MORE for ringtones than the actual songs they come from. Which seems RIDICULOUS to me. But hey, perhaps that means ringtones are a great way to subsidize the cost of songs. In the near future I will be setting up some songs as ringtones and do an experiment to see how well they sell…Perhaps those of you who actively use ringtones can share your stories and ringtone dreams…

Below is a quick review of two of the more popular services available that enable independent artists to sell their own ringtones…

MYXERTONES
Myxer helps you create and distribute mobile phone ringtones and wallpapers. If you want to sell them, you can use their tools to do that as well.

Cost
Myxertones is free if you want to give away your content. Otherwise they keep 70% of gross sales for overhead and their own pockets if you sell your tones or wallpapers.

Selling Tones
Myxertones allows you to set the price for each ringtone or wallpaper between $0.99 and $2.99. The service provides MyxerTags, small pieces of HTML code, that you can add to your website or MySpace page to sell directly to your listeners. Users enter their phone number and receive the corresponding mobile content.

Pros

Includes online tools to make ringtones and wallpapers
No up-front costs.
Receive payments through Paypal
Generate text codes to enable download of ringtones directly from mobile phones
Ringtones included in the Myxer catalog, which may give additional exposure

Cons

Because you pay nothing up front, you receive a lower percentage of sales (30%) compared to other services that charge monthly fees and pay out 40-50%.

XINGTONE
Xingtone enables you to turn your audio into ringtones, and then sell or give them away via your own mobile content webstore. These “webstores” can be embedded on your website, blog, myspace page, etc.

Cost
Xingtone is free if you give away your ringtones. If you want to charge people, Xingtone will charge you. Plans are as follows:

Selling Tones
Artists can set the price for ringtones (they recommend $0.99-$3.00), and the plans pay out 40-50% of the gross sales, with the rest going to Xingtone.

Pros