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ESSEX, United Kingdom-Music groups collected $71 million from ring tone sales last year, a 58-percent increase from the previous year, according to an executive briefing from research firm Baskerville. The growth, which occurred mostly in U.S. and European countries, marks a significant new revenue stream for the music industry, Baskerville said.
However, the firm said, commercial and technical obstacles remain that could limit the growth of the business, including handset penetration rates, network speeds and a lack of copyright protection.
