Ringback tones the new killer ap? Is that new?
We actually found this Reuters/Billboard piece reproduced on the New York Times and read it with the feeling of a mother seeing her little daughter come home with her first drawing. After hearing for years that Ringback tones were big in Korea, then in Asia (article from Red Herring in 2005), the US of A are finally starting to catch up. Well done.
Reading the Billboard piece, where it all sounds like a great innovation that is finally coming mainstream thanks to the efforts of operators and music majors, we could not help but think that more than one important pieces were missing from this article. Let’s look more closely:
First, ringback tones are an old story
They started in 2002 in Korea and quickly reached over 40% penetration. We know this quite well and even co-published a report on this phenomenon in early 2005 (”Mobile music best practices from Japan and South Korea”).
Second, the “WiderThan Division” of RealNetworks deserves more respect
WiderThan used to be a subsidiary of SK Telecom, the leading mobile operator in Korea, and was sold to RealNetworks in September 2006 for 350 million USD. We think the main reason was that WiderThan had great platforms and know-how but had trouble selling them overseas. Well done for RealNetworks (and SKT).
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