The annual revenue of ringtone sales peaked at $1.6 billion in 2007, adjusted for inflation. That essentially came out of nowhere, and truth be told evaporated within just a few years, a multibillion-dollar blip, when ringtones accounted for more of the music business’s revenue than digital albums or single downloads did. Ringtones are still a business, but they’re definitely not an industry anymore: Revenues are down over 99 percent, hitting $10.5 million. Of the ringtone sales that do exist, it’s actually not entirely clear how much is going to the artists anyway. Who’s buying? Basically, “people who were between the ages of 14 and 20 when ringtones were popular,” as the average age of the users of the four biggest ringtone apps spans from 31 to 37.
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