Mobile content company Thumbplay said today that it is now handling the sales of all ringtones for Billboard.com. The ringtones are available from all of the music charts, which will have links to Thumbplay, where people can preview and choose to download the music to their phone. As an example, Britney Spears’ hit “Circus” is No.1 on the Billboard Top 200. Right next to the album’s information, you can do things like buy tickets on TicketMaster (NSDQ: TKTM), download the full track, or buy the ringtone, which is represented by an icon with a picture of a cellphone. When clicked on, a user is sent to a landing page, where Thumbplay appears. The deal is exclusive and effective immediately. Previously, Billboard.com sold ringtones through a relationship with Zingy Hands-On Mobile. Release.
UPDATE: Thumbplay provided wrong information for this article. Billboard’s previous ringtone provider was the now defunct Zingy/Vindigo, not Hands-On Mobile. We regret the error. About a year ago, NYC-based Zingy, closed down its division, which included ringtones, and renamed the company to Vindigo. In September, the entire company shut down and laid off its remaining 30 employees.
Hands-On publishes the Billboard Mobile downloadable application service and not ring-tones at Billboard.com. The story is inaccurate.
Big deal, Thumbplay's gonna make an extra $3/month through this deal. Ridiculous.