THE irritating Crazy Frog ringtone has given new meaning to nuisance value — it made more than £40 million this year.

Crazy Frog, which spawned equally annoying hit singles and a wave of imitators, was easily the year’s best-selling ringtone. It took 31 per cent of the British ringtones market, now worth £133 million, according to accounting firm KPMG.

Regulators this week fined the company which supplies the ringtone £40,000 for failing to make clear that customers were actually buying into a £5-a-week subscription service.

The ringtone market is now worth more than double the value of CD single sales, excluding internet downloads. Novelty tracks are most popular with the 5 to 15-year-olds who drive the ringtone market. Sweetie Chick’s Tweet Tweet, another inane animal offering from Jamster, the company that licensed the Frog, was the year’s second-biggest selling ringtone. Mobile music is expected to spread rapidly in 2006 and generate £4 billion worldwide. An average £3 price appears no barrier to sales.

The artists best placed to benefit are those which combine music and visuals. Gorillaz, the animated group created by the Blur singer Damon Albarn, enjoyed two of the year’s best-selling ringtones with Feel Good Inc and Dare in the Mobile Entertainment Forum chart.

Next year record companies will introduce “truetone” download services, incorporating music and videos, in partnership with mobile companies. Publishers are scouring back catalogues to revive old tracks in a new format. Mark Summerfield, KPMG music and entertainment partner, said: “Predictions indicating that the ringtone market will grow next year by around 7 per cent show the continued importance of this revenue source for artists and record companies.”

The Crazy Frog was downloaded 11 million times across Europe this year, boosted by a £3 million television advertising campaign.

The frog was spawned seven years ago by Daniel Malmedahl, 17, from Sweden, who wanted the sound of a two-stroke engine revving up. His request was picked up by Erik Wernquist, a graphic artist, who invented the creature and made a clip he called Annoying Thing.

Wernquist has apologised for creating a monster

Ringtone chart

1 Crazy Frog - Axel F

2 Tweet Tweet - Sweetie Chick

3 (Is This The Way To) Amarillo - Tony Christie

4 Lonely - Akon

5 You’re Beautiful - James Blunt

6 Ghetto Gospel - 2Pac ft Elton John

7 Don’t Cha - Pussycat Dolls 8 Feel Good Inc - Gorillaz

9 Candy Shop - 50 Cent

10 Out Of Touch - Uniting Nations Compiled by KPMG

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