Nielsen RingScan unveils its mastertone sales data

This week, Nielsen RingScan unveils its mastertone sales data, and Billboard publishes its inaugural mastertone chart, a clear indication of the song snippet's stature. (See previous post)

As album sales sag (down 5% this year), the constant busy signal in mastertone sales is giving the music industry hope for a turnaround. With Informa Telecoms and Media projecting a $6.8 billion mastertone business by 2010, labels are salivating over profit and promotional opportunities.

The mastertone's rise is evident in a comparison of Nielsen's RingScan and SoundScan data. In the week ending Nov. 12, Akon's Smack That was the No. 1 mastertone, with 164,000 sold. It was No. 2 on the digital chart after selling 104,000 downloads. Beyoncé's Irreplaceable sold 124,000 mastertones and 79,000 downloads.

In recognition of the mastertone's commercial and cultural clout, the Recording Industry Association of America, which has certified album sales for 47 years, recently introduced Master Ringtone Sales Awards by inaugurating 128 gold and platinum artists.

The ringtone market "is a big hip-hop place, heavily driven by teens, and they're veering to mastertones," says Geoff Mayfield, director of charts at Billboard, which will introduce its Hot RingMasters chart on Friday and transfer polyphonic rankings to its website. "The diminished polyphonic market is becoming more adult-leaning."