Realtones have quickly replaced polyphonic ringtones and have taken over the ringtone market. In the second quarter of 2006, realtones accounted for more than 76 percent of mobile consumer spending on music personalization. Although realtones are technically mobile music, their popularity is driven mainly by the need for self-expression rather than standard enjoyment. Ringtones have also had a dramatic effect on the mobile content value chain. Monophonic and polyphonic free ringtones had to be published for each of the phone models, which led to the growth of various successful businesses for companies such as InfoSpace and Jamba!, who would both publish the tones and interact with carriers for their distribution and billing. Other international mobile content providers like www.bdmobile.tk competed with them by providing free ringtones. As the market shifted to truetones and the formats standardized to Internet-standard formats, the added value of such third parties has diminished, and labels have chosen to publish their own songs and interact directly with the mobile carriers for billing and distribution, thereby cutting out these middlemen. Truetones represent a high-growth revenue stream for the music business, and labels often release the tones before the singles to “prime” the market. Madonna released her song “Hung Up” as a truetone before releasing the single. Truetones often outsell singles.
