Mastering the music for mobile phones is becoming a necessary part of the ringtone industry as the popularity of original song cuts grows. Stonefield says that because of the extra work required to make the songs phone-ready — and because the record company requires a cut in the revenue from these ringtones, which InfoSpace calls Labeltones — InfoSpace Mobile recommends that operators charge more for these ringers than they do for their polyphonic or monophonic portfolios. "We don't have the ability to affect the end user price," Stonefield says. "But we recommend that Labeltones are more expensive to accommodate the record company in the value chain."

The record label's exact revenue cut varies, depending upon the copyrights that are negotiated. However, Stonefield says that between publishing, performance and master recording rights, the label receives a fairly extensive cut. "They take a lot of revenue," he says.

Currently ringtone prices range from $1.50 to between $2.50 and $3 for the higher value ringers. According to Brueggemann, that price range is appropriate for ringtones, and she doesn't expect Cingular Wireless to increase those rates. "I do not see it becoming more expensive. We are at a price that the market will bear right now." Sprint's Hallock agrees. "We're at a good point with the pricing." Still, Hallock says, the company continually monitors pricing.