The Latest Buzz on Cellular Ringtones – May 2008

The United States, like the rest of the Northern Hemisphere, is gripped by spring fever right now. And even though the American Presidential election won’t take place until late autumn, the political campaigns have already reached fever pitch.
In this digital era, voters have more options than merely slapping a bumper sticker with their favourite candidate’s name on it on their cars. These days, they can quite literally make their allegiance heard on their cellphones.
Slate, a daily online magazine, has just launched a series of political ringtones available for download at www.slate.com/ringtones.
Their readers can choose and download such catchy ditties as Hillary Clinton’s laugh. (Or cackle, depending on who you ask.) Or perhaps they’d prefer to hear her say: “Shame on you, Barack Obama” every time the phone rings.
Obama supporters might opt for a cellular pep talk and boost to their self-esteem by downloading a ringtone of him saying: “Yes, we can!”
In turn, Republicans might like a ringtone of their Presidential candidate John McCain calling a questioner a “little jerk.”
But never mind ringtones as political statements. Religious extremists can also use ringtones to send a clear message.
Islamic militants in Pakistans tribal areas, which border Afghanistan, have issued a decree banning music from mobile phone ringtones. A spokesman for the Tehreek-e-Taliban in Pakistan warned that offenders would be punished according to Shariah laws.
This is not the first time that Taliban leaders have tried to clamp down on music in their areas. Late last year, a wave of attacks was carried out on stores selling music capable phones.
At the time, the shop owners said that they had received several letters asking them not to sell cellphones pre-loaded with ‘musical’ ringtones. Many retailers then began offering phones pre-loaded with so-called ‘Jihadi’ ringtones, but not even that seemed enough to appease the militants.
For the rest of the free world, options to acquire as many musical ringtones as they’d like, abound. Including a p2p platform especially designed for sharing ringtones.
This month, DJ Nitrogen announced the public beta release of its new Ringtone Lab for the iPhone (http://www.djnitrogen.com/iphonedownload.html), specifically designed to meet the ringtone needs of iPhone users. The Ringtone Lab is one of the most advanced ringtone editors available and is the only product that lets users legally share iPhone ringtones with other users.
Ringtones easily sync to the iPhone via iTunes, with no hacks or modifications required. Powered by DJ Nitrogens patent-pending mobile content collaboration platform, this new Ringtone Lab for the iPhone works in any country and with any recent version of iTunes.
iPhone users who would like to have a variety of ringtones without actually taking the time to search and download new ones, could always subscribe to the RingtoneFeeder. It’s a service that can be subscribed to by the week, month or year, and the ringtones are then automatically delivered to the phone like podcasts. $1.98 buys a minimum of 4 new ringtones per month and the 5 most recent upon sign up, giving new subscribers at least 9 tones for that first payment of $1.98.
And speaking of bargains: Virgin Mobile USA has teamed up with American fast food joint Burger King (BK) and Warner Music Group (WMG) to bring its customers affordable ringtones. For a limited time, Virgin Mobile USA is bringing the popular BK Value Menu concept to the cellular provider, delivering a selection of ringtones at a dollar a pop.
The Virgin Mobile Ringtone Value Menu powered by Burger King allows Virgin Mobile USA customers to choose from a list of available options via the VirginXL WAP deck or online at www.virginmobileusa.com for $1.00 each. The WMG artists featured were chosen to appeal to a wide range of music tastes and include Buckcherry, Casa De Leones, Danity Kane, Estelle, War, Group 1 Crew, James Otto, Plies, and more.
No idea whether Warner Music’s collaborations with Virgin and BK to offer some of their artists as cheap fare has anything to do with news that the WMG has lost earnings.
Labels have been hoping that selling songs, subscriptions and ringtones to cellphone users would help to make up for physical sales shortfalls, but according to its earnings announcement, that doesnt appear to be the case.
Physical recorded music sales continued to decline industry-wide, and slowing ringtone growth as well as a softening broader economy are negatively impacting the music industry, said Warner CEO Edgar Bronfman, Jr. The tones, three of which can cost as much as $7 to rent for a single month, could be losing their allure as consumers realise they can buy the entire song for less than it costs to rent the ringtone for a month.
We’re sure the Pakistan Taliban would break into song when they hear that!
We however think that the collaboration between Virgin USA, BK and WMG is a great business idea. Perhaps other businesses should take note. In South Africa, for example, where winter is fast descending, coffee shop chains such as Vida e Caffé could maybe team up with record labels to offer up some home-brewed tunes as ringtones. It would be a really great tool to promote local music. Imagine therefore some Freshlyground summoning you to your phone as you sip your freshly ground coffee, or being called with Coda as you are enjoying your cappuccino?
Until next month, may your ringtone be music to your ears… and to the ears of all those who are around you when your phone rings.

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