Celebrity gossip impacting ringtone sales

The wall-to-wall media coverage of celebrity news and gossip directly impacts ringtone download trends according to data issued by mobile entertainment provider Zed. After analyzing retail metrics from a number of its operator partners, Zed notes that sales of Michael Jackson ringtones jumped more than 9,544 percent in the wake of the pop superstar's sudden death last month. When the Beastie Boys' Adam Yauch announced earlier this week he is battling cancer, the hip-hop pioneers experienced a 64 percent increase in ringtone sales, and when rapper T.I. began serving a one-year prison sentence on felony weapons charges, his ringtone sales leaped 19 percent week-over-week.

Not all media coverage translates to stronger sales, however. According to Zed, news of Fergie's marriage and Kevin Jonas' engagement sent their ringtone sales into a tailspin, with the former dropping 10 percent and the latter 16 percent. And in the wake of Chris Brown's domestic altercation with fellow R&B star Rihanna, their ringtone sales fell 18 percent and 28 percent respectively.  

For more on the ringtone sales trends:
- read this release

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