The pre-release single used to go to radio. Now it sometimes goes to cell phones. And in one case, as profiled in an article by The Washington Post's Yuki Noguchi, Capitol Records' Yellowcard was part of a multimillion-dollar ad campaign for a Verizon promotion.

Noguchi gives examples of ways music promotions are being integrated into wireless services, has quotes from various executives and analysts and, all in all, gives a good overview of the changes that have occured and will be in store.

But nowhere in the article is any evidence given that "cellphones supplant radio in promotions," which is part of the article's headline. Terrestrial radio may be an unexciting topic to a lot of reporters, but its relevance is still far ahead in this country.

Billboard's Antony Bruno looked at how mobile music is looking beyond ringtones. In the coming weeks, he wrote, several wireless companies are expected to launch alert tones -- a very brief segment of a song that lasts from two to five seconds.

Why so much buzz on mobile music? First, there's a lot of money to be made. In December of 2005, NPD research showed current ringtone buyers would pay $3.25 per 30-second ringtone -- well above the $2.50 average -- and future buyers set a target price of $1.75. And everybody has a mobile phone. That ubiquity alone has labels chomping at the bit. And mobile music services are, for the time being, closed environments that will allow sales growth with fears of P2P.