The other half of the music battle...an ongoing lawsuit between some musicians and Sony over the amount of royalties they receive has been expanded to include ringtones.
“The suit claims that the average song sold over the Internet for 99 cents is netting the bands about 4 1/2 cents in royalties, rather than the 30 cents they claim they should get in a licensing deal...Ringtones — small sections of popular songs that play when a person’s phone rings — have been netting the performers about 8.3 cents apiece, out of the $1 to $1.50 that Sony Music gets from each sale. The musicians say they should get 50 to 75 cents”. The lawsuit seeks class action status, and claims ringtones will be a US$20 billion industry this year.