Tuesday, 31 January 2006

Warner Music Ringtones for Skype

Skype has reached a deal with music label Warner to provide ringtones for its VoIP service. The sale of musical ringtones will add another revenue stream for Skype, which makes a large portion of its money from the fees it charges for premium services. Warner is only the first of several expected deals with music labels that would put Skype's selection of ringtones on par with that of the major cellular carriers.

Each 30-second song clip will cost USD 1.50, and would work similarly to the way current ringtones do. Ringtones have become a huge business for the record industry, and some analysts say as much as two-thirds of the USD 1.1 billion generated from digital music could have come from that segment. The song clips will be made available as an option to users within two months. The entire catalog of Warner music that is currently made available to cell phone carriers would also be made available to Skype, with the VoIP provider initially featuring Madonna.

Clips from her most recent album, "Confessions on a Dancefloor," would be featured in Skype's online store when the new service launches. Until now, ringtones from that album had been exclusive to the Sprint Nextel service. "This agreement exemplifies our commitment to finding new ways our artists' music can be experienced across emerging platforms and distribution channels," Warner Music Group executive vice president Alex Zubillaga said in a statement.