It seems that having Fergie, Beyonce, or even Kanye tinnily announce that someone is hitting your digits is going out of style (kind of like using terms such as ‘hitting your digits’). Ringtone sales, once a meaningful area of growth for the music industry, are projected to drop for the second straight year. After reaching a peak in 2006 with sales topping six hundred million dollars, 2007 figures fell eight percent to five hundred and fifty million dollars. Sales projections for this year predict another seven percent decline, and Richard Conlon, BMI’s vice president for development, says that sales will continue to fall as “the novelty phase wears off.” Conlon also said that many users are now utilizing third party software to make their own ringtones, which further cuts into the market. Though times seem grim for traditional ringtones, Amanda Marks, vice president and general manager for electronic distribution for Universal, argued that there is still money to be made in the market. She said that the “high end” ringtone sales, which use snippets from actual songs, are growing in spite of the third party issues, and that call back tones (which allow users to hear songs when they place calls) present an untapped market for expansion. She went on to say that if mobile carriers made it easier for their customers to hear and purchase ringtones, by offering previews and more accessible purchase points, that sales would rebound substantially.  With these differing predictions, whether ringtones join Hammer pants and legwarmers on the pop culture scrap heap remains to be seen. [New York Post]