Chart can help clear up Wild West.(Editorial)

The arrival of the UK's first official ringtones chart is a landmark moment.

In EMI's annual results last week, it revealed that 15m [pounds sterling]-worth of revenues had come from digital distribution, with half of it from ringtones.

That is still a minuscule figure compared to the billions of revenue from physical sales. But, as ringtones evolve into realtones, the income can only grow.

Even since the launch of iTunes in the US last year and the arrival of Napster, Rhapsody and others, ringtones remain the single most substantial source of digital revenue. But it is also a virtual Wild West riddled with chancers who don't mind taking their customers' money but would rather not pay creators.

The launch of the MEF Ringtones Top 20 is crucial. And the most powerful impact it could possibly make on the mobile music market is--by shining a light into this hugely important area--to begin to sweep away the dodgy dealers.

The establishment--under the rental directive which was introduced in 1996--of the performer's right to a share of public performance income was also a landmark event.

It is a right which took years of campaigning to achieve. And the past two or three years have witnessed crucial steps in the creation of ...