Ringtones: Becoming part of the artists’ rollout process : Despite slowdown, tones to pull in $510M in revenue

In an industry that constantly looks for the next big thing, ringtones are yesterday’s news. But the little snippets of music still generate billions of dollars.
Ringtone revenues are on the wane, to be sure: Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) predicts the U.S. market will shrink for the second consecutive year, generating $510 million after reaching an all-time high of $600 million in 2006. The descent will be slower in Western Europe, according to JupiterResearch, where ringtone sales will fall from roughly $1.36 billion last year to $1.35 billion in 2011.
Analysts offer a host of reasons for the coming drop-off. Once novel, the little tunes have become pass