Until recently, when you thought of ringtones, you
usually thought of hip-hop ringtones. This is not surprising
given the genre’s wide acceptance of ringtones and cell
phones and such smash chart crashers as 50-Cent ringtones,
Snoop Dogg ringtones, and Lil Kim ringtones.
But ringtone operators are now starting to see the value
in Latin ringtones, especially in the urban Hispanic
market—one often referred to as “hurban” by marketers.
While the market for Latin ringtones is exploding in Mexico,
Central America, and South America, major Latin acts have
failed to reach the coveted Billboard Ringtone Charts…yet.
Latin ringtones may be the lone remaining untapped pot of
gold for ringtone sellers. “The Ketchup Song, by Las
Ketchup was on our top ten list about three years ago,”
said Bob Bentz, director of marketing at Ringingphone.com.
“Then, there’s the traditional cross-over ringtones like
Ricky Martin’s Livin’ La Vida Loca and Los Del Rio’s
Macarena that are consistent sellers. We have good sellers
with Juan Gabriel ringtones, Selena ringtones, and Marc
Anthony ringtones, but, for the most part, our business is
still mainly about rap ringtones and hip-hop ringtones. But,
we like the opportunities in the Hispanic market and
continue to expand our offerings.”
Bentz has reason to be excited. It is a well-known fact
that the market for ringtones has been driven by teens and
young adults. According to the US Census Bureau, Hispanics
will be the largest teen minority group by next year and
will be twenty percent of the overall American teen
population in 2015. Moreover, Hispanics, according to
Forrester Research, tend to buy more multi-media capable
phones and replace their handsets more frequently. Hispanics
are also larger spenders on cell phones with monthly bills
$10 higher than the national average. Twelve percent of
Hispanics use mobile data services like ringtones compare to
only seven percent, according to the Forrester report.
So, the next time you hear a ringtone, it may have a
Latin flavor to it.
This article was posted on August 31, 2005
