« January 2005 | Main | March 2005 »
February 28, 2005
Ringtone providers told to clean up their act
The BBC has reported that Mobile Entertainment Forum, the UK's mobile trade organization, has introduced new rules that prohibit content providers from "tricking" buyers. In the UK, a large problem with buying ringtones is that they are sold via direct-to-consumer methods like magazines, and the user just has to send an SMS message to a certain number to receive their ringtone. What the buyer often doesn't realize is that they are signing up to a subscription service where recurring charges will appear on their phone bill for new content delivered weekly or even daily. These new rules are force providers to clearly explain to the buyer what they are purchasing.
"The new rules ensure that punters are clearly informed by text message about what they have subscribed to, with whom, and how much it will cost. They will be reminded about the industry's universal STOP command, which enables consumers to unsubscribe immediately from any service.
It's hoped that the new rules will stop people from being ripped off by operators in a sector estimated to be worth £200m in the UK last year."
Watch for this to start happening in the U.S. very soon.
Posted by Michael Amin at 12:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 25, 2005
The first ringtone movie?
University of Southern California's Louiza Sophia Vick has create what could be the first film about a ringtone. The story is the life of a ringtone, from conception to final format.
"The movie opens with [Christian] Murcia humming the tune. Then it cuts to [Anthony] Christodoulou writing the music notes. Then he's playing the tune on the piano. After that, a soundboard appears inside a recording studio, with the volume bars shown peaking.
The film is part live action and part 3-D animation. The last scene is an animated cell phone, with the screen of the phone filling the movie screen and reads: "You got a ringtone."
Check out the film here.
Posted by Michael Amin at 11:25 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 24, 2005
Sprint to allow customers to download "background music" as ringtones
In an effort to improve the customer in-store experience, Sprint will allow people to download music playing in Sprint store locations to their mobile phones and assign it as a ringtone. This is among other improvements being made in order to draw more people to Sprint retail outlets.
Posted by Michael Amin at 11:14 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 23, 2005
Song-swapping for your cell phone
Business 2.0, via Ringtonia.com, has an interesting tidbit on cell phone file-sharing intertwined with viral marketing. EMI and Sony are considering launching services that allow users to send their downloaded ringtone or music track to someone else for "demo" purposes, and hopefully followed by a purchase.
"Fans become evangelists, and labels get another bite at the $30 billion digital-music pie. "A friend's recommendation far outweighs an ad," says EMI senior VP Ted Cohen."
Posted by Michael Amin at 12:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 22, 2005
Verizon Wireless to expand Ringback tone availability
Verizon Wireless, the first major carrier to launch their ringback tone service in California, says it been so successful it will be expanding the service into more Western U.S. states.
"Gregg Yacovone, director of marketing for the Verizon Wireless West Area, said that it was so successful that Verizon this week will expand its Ringback Tones option throughout Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona and Hawaii, with plans to make the service available to its 42.1 million nationwide customers by the middle of the year."
Verizon will have the most widespread penetration of ringback tones after the service expansion, followed by T-Mobile. More carriers are soon to follow.
Posted by Michael Amin at 10:42 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 21, 2005
Xzibit and Cingular move to next stage of hip-hop ringtone challenge
As first reported here on RIngerNews, Xzibit and Cingular have teamed up to bring you the Hip Hop SupaStar contest, a hip-hop eliminator event that will find the next unknown hip-hop superstar. The 10 finalists have been chosen, now the public will decide who the next star is by downloading a ringtone of the artist's track!
"All wireless users -- regardless of carrier -- to use their phones to "text the vote" and determine the next Hip Hop SupaStar.
Unlike traditional voting contests that incorporate a text messaging component into their overall voting platform, Cingular has introduced a contest where the only means of voting and determining the winner is via text messaging -- text SUPA to HSTAR (47827). There's no limit to the number of times wireless customers can vote from their phone."
Posted by Michael Amin at 11:04 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 18, 2005
Infamous frog ringtone to be released as a single in UK
What does a ringtone do when it's achieved superstar status? Starts a music career, that's what.
The annoying frog ringtone that has generated over $18 million USD, has been converted into a music single, to be released in the UK April 4th.
Will be curious to see if this phenomenon could ever happen in the U.S.; hard to say, as the British have a particularly sharp sense of humour, and certain things don't always translate well when brought over stateside. I can't imagine the frog ringtone taking off in the U.S. as it did in Europe, mainly because the moped sound that the ringtone emulates is very familiar to Europeans, and not so common in the the States. Maybe someone doing a "well-maintained-American-car" sound would do better...
Posted by Michael Amin at 10:21 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 17, 2005
Motorola vs. Nokia = Apple vs. Microsoft? The future of Mobile audio...
An excellent article on CNN about cell phones turning into portable music players, and how two phone manufacturing behemoths, Motorola and Nokia, are teaming up with computer heavyweights Apple and Microsoft.
"Apple vs. Microsoft feels like the computer industry's version of the Hundred Years War. And there is no light at the end of the tunnel, especially now that a new front has been opened: the cell phone. Not surprisingly, the objective of this battle is digital music.
The latest salvo came Monday when Motorola finally unveiled the E1060, a phone featuring Apple's iTunes software. Microsoft responded with a joint venture with Nokia -- in itself a startling development -- to create phones that use Microsoft's Windows Media software for music playback."
We're on the brink of the next technological phase of music. The desperate music industry is clinging onto any legitimate form of music monetization it can, and this would appear to be the perfect opportunity for the dinosaurs in the industry to get up to speed and move with the times, as well as make the kind of profits their used to.
Posted by Michael Amin at 10:39 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 16, 2005
'Hypertags" are latest in ringtone distribution
Ringtonia has posted a report on "Hypertags", the latest way to distribute ringtones promotionally.
"Mobile marketing and live music are coming together in another new campaign for O2, where Hypertag’s new wearable tags are being used to hand out ringtones to fans at a series of Westlife gigs in Dublin’s ‘The Point’ venue.
A team of field marketers at the events are sporting wearable Hypertags and working the queues at the events. They are handing out two free Westlife ringtones and driving visitors to the O2 ‘Experience Zone’ where they have the chance to win a back stage pass."
This is a great form of grass-roots level marketing and provides the kind of instant gratification associated with high-speed downloads that the under-25 are used to. Hypertags are also being used at sporting events and this is bound to leap into other large gatherings like festivals and potentially demonstrations! Imagine political messages being passed out via Hypertags...
Posted by Michael Amin at 11:07 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 15, 2005
Lagardere sued by BlueFrog for using "Get Some Bling in your Ring"
The North American group of Lagardere, who ceremoniously launched their "Bling Tones" ringtone record label a few months ago, is being sued by BlueFrog Mobile for using the phrases "Get Some Bling in Your Ring" and "The Hook Up".
""By using our trademarked phrases in commerce, Lagardere is unfairly diverting business away from Blue Frog," says Ron Erickson, president and CEO of Blue Frog Mobile, Inc. He added, "C'est quoi le probleme? Ils n'aiment pas les grenouilles bleues?""
Roughly translated to English, the comment by BlueFrog's president and CEO means "What? They don't like Blue Frogs?". He jokes, but this could be a major blow to Lagardere, who has already invested in a national ad campaign using these phrases and is aggressively trying to get market share of the lucrative ringtone market using it's Bling Tones line of product.
Posted by Michael Amin at 10:16 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 14, 2005
Nokia and Microsoft team up to make downloading music on cell phones easier
The world's largest phone maker Nokia, and the world's largest computer company Microsoft, have struck a deal. They will team up to facilitate downloading and managing music on cell phones, via the Windows Audio format.
"This agreement makes it easier for consumers to download music they want to listen to, without having to worry about whether or not the file format is supported," said Nokia Multimedia unit head Anssi Vanjoki in a statement Monday. A Nokia spokesman told Reuters the firm would launch a phone in 2005 that would support Windows Audio.
The deal brings together two long-time rivals, with Nokia previously using either in-house or RealNetworks (Research) music and video software. It said it sold 10 million phones in 2004 with an integrated music player."
This could mean incredible profits for both companies, and more importantly, Microsoft pushing it's music format as "the standard". If a good portion of cell phones only support Microsoft-endorsed formats, than the rest of the market will have to follow. This could be the next move by Microsoft to monopolize the mobile audio market... stay tuned - RingerNews will follow this story and bring you the latest as it happens.
Posted by Michael Amin at 11:19 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Turn your voice into musical notes with Tooki Ringtones
A new service unveiled at Mobile Expo 2005, called Tooki Ringtones, takes any notes hummed into a cell phone by a user and converts the hums into music notes. The service will start in India.
"The service will convert any tune hummed by the user into a musical note. It is the first of its kind in the country," Satish Kejriwal, chief operating officer of Cellnext Solutions Limited that provides the service in India, told IANS.
Users will be charged about Rs.10 (22 cents) for composing their own ring tones by dialling "6677" from any mobile phone. The service is not model specific."
The artistic possibilities are open - for example, converting things other than humming. Say your name into the phone - see what happens! What would happen if you put your cell phone up to a radio and let the converting happen?
Posted by Michael Amin at 10:50 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 12, 2005
Surround sound on cell phones
A British company called Sonaptic has incorporated a 3D "surround sound" system in new phones hitting the streets in Japan. This is the same technology incorporated in Microsoft's Xbox console.
"Traditional stereo is created by blending audio between two speakers, creating the illusion that a sound source is located between the speakers. Home theater systems with 5.1 or 7.1 sound perform similar tricks, mixing audio between each of the speakers to create surround sound.
The Sonaptic technique, as with other related technologies, is drawn from a study of exactly how the ear and brain perceive where a sound is coming from the shape and strengths of sound waves. The company's algorithms then subtly change sound waves so that they are interpreted by the brain as coming from different positions."
As full-track music downloads are becoming the norm in Japan, this advanced sound could take the experience of ringtones to the next level. This could create portable stereos for everyone, with people playing their entrance music whenever they walk in to a room!
Posted by Michael Amin at 07:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 11, 2005
British music industry could crack down on homemade ringtones
A company called Magix has created yet another "make-your-own-ringtone-from-your-cd-collection" application, that allows users to convert any music track they have into ringtones. The app costs £20 ($37 USD), about the cost of 6 ringtones bought through normal SMS or carrier channels. This could land them in serious trouble, as the British Phonographic Industry explicitly states: "Virtually all music commercially released in the United Kingdom is protected by copyright law".
As more of these make-your-own apps enter the market, the massive music industry stateside will wise-up to it and no doubt crack down on it. This may not be a huge problem in the U.S. though, as many carriers has removed Bluetooth functionality from their phones (as reported in an earlier article) , and this is the primary means of getting homemade ringtones onto a handset.
Posted by Michael Amin at 02:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Cell phones used by DJs
Article in the Globe & Mail about how cell phones are being used in the audio space in innovative ways like live shows:
"It's putting DJ tools in the hands of everybody, with a technology that everyone already carries," said Drew Hemment, a member of the FutureDJ collective, a group of British electronic musicians. In August, aboard a cruise ship off Helsinki, Finland, Hemment remixed a short set of house and electroclash beats in a live performance for a party of about 1,000. A Motorola MPx200 cellphone, loaded with a program called miniMIXA, was the only equipment Hemment took onstage."
Very cool. Cell phones are becoming more and more audio-capable and they are likely the next generation of portable recording devices and live show tools.
Posted by Michael Amin at 11:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 10, 2005
HP and Nokia to allow ringtone downloads of mobile radio tracks
HP and Nokia are teaming up to introduce a new service that will no only allow people to listen to the radio on their cell phones, but to purchase and download the ringtone of the song that is playing.
" Ms Fiorina also announced that HP was working with Nokia to launch a visual radio service for mobiles, which would launch in Europe early this year. The service will let people listen to radio on their mobiles and download relevant content, like a track's ringtone, simultaneously. The service is designed to make mobile radio more interactive."
Inevitable, this will creep into other media: think of it - point your phone at a music video playing on TV and you can buy that ringtone...
Posted by Michael Amin at 10:26 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Ringtones are #1 annoyance to Australian workers
In a recent survey, Aussie workers said that the most annoying thing at work (ahead of lazy co-workers and computers not working) are other people's ringtones.
"The biggest annoyance for most people in the workplace is mobile phone rings, whether it was the theme to Sex in the City or the Mexican Hat Dance. An ostentatious phone ring is not a sign of your individuality."
This following a report of a company in India banning cell phones altogether. Are we looking two years into the future for the U.S.?
Posted by Michael Amin at 10:19 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 09, 2005
Voice activated ringtone purchasing
Cricket, a BREW carrier, has launched the first application that allows a user to purchase ringtones by saying the name of the artist or tone.
"Instead of clicking through WAP pages to find the desired ringtone, users will be able to download an application to ease the process. After starting the application, users say the name of an artist, then they are presented with a number of ringtones they can preview and purchase. Users must purchase credit packages from within the application in order to download ringtones to their handsets."
On paper, this is a very good idea, but the voice recognition has to be spot-on for this to work smoothly. I can just picture asking for the band "Free" and getting "Jay-Z".
Posted by Michael Amin at 02:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Cell phone apparently NOT the next iPod... yet
As reported by Emily Turrettini from Ringtonia.com, a new industry report states that cell phones will NOT replace portable music players like the iPod in the near future.
“Mobile phone music services must not be positioned to compete with the PC music experience as the handsets are not yet ready,” said Thomas Husson, European Mobile Analyst at JupiterResearch. “Mobile music services should be new and different, and enable operators to differentiate their brands and support third generation network launches,” added Husson."
While this may be true for the western world, seems that places like Japan are much closer - full music downloads are gaining more momentum every day.
Posted by Michael Amin at 09:43 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 08, 2005
Ringtones - what does someone over 40 think?
Eric Olsen has posted a short piece about ringtones being baffling. While some might think this is funny, the over 40 group is an untapped market that could be addressed if marketed to the right way.
Posted by Michael Amin at 12:16 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Predictions of a $500 million market for ringtones in 2005
Major U.S. performing right organization BMI has predicted that the ringtone industry will hit $500 million in 2005. BMI has used data that they have collected in the last three years: based on sales and reports from third-party distributors.
Of course, they are not counting black-market content that is NOT being reported to them - this portion of the market should not be underestimated.
Posted by Michael Amin at 12:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Virgin Mobile is taking a piece if the ringtone market
Upstart carrier Virgin Mobile has just hit the 3 million subscriber mark, and a startling fact has come out with it:
"Over half of its customers downloaded ringtones last year and Virgin Mobile represents approximately 8% of the total US ringtone market -- a number disproportionately larger than its total wireless market share."
A remarkable number that is encouraging for other small youth-oriented carriers like Nextel's Boost service. For a carrier with only 3 million subscribers (compared to a tier-1 carrier like Verizon with over 40 million subscribers) to claim 8% of the US ringtone market is impressive.
Posted by Michael Amin at 11:58 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 07, 2005
Ringback tones are here
A brief overview of ringback tones. Of note, they talk about a $300 million sales projection for 2004...
Posted by Michael Amin at 09:32 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 06, 2005
Classical music coming to phones in the form of ringtones
Another untapped genre of music is about to hit cell phones: classical music. The world's largest classical-music publisher, Boosey & Hawkes, has agreed to have 300 classic tunes made into ringtones, arriving this spring in the UK.
"Both “polyphonic” ring tones and actual recordings of real musicians will be available to American customers, largely through the large main carriers, for $3.50 to $5 per download. Though Warburton said negotiations with American carriers were still under way, he expected the tones to roll out during the second quarter of 2005. “It's where high art meets mass technology,” said Steven Swartz, a spokesman for Boosey & Hawkes' New York office. “What we're looking at now is the exact parameters with which this is going to be rolled out in the United States.”
Posted by Michael Amin at 11:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Motorola allows users to "draw" their ringtones at Superbowl
Motorola promotional booths were set up in Jacksonville around the 2005 Superbowl and one of them featured Motorola's Motoglyph technology, which allows users to "draw" their own ringtones with digital graffiti.
"'Write With Light' – Motorola will give consumers the chance to experience its cutting-edge Motoglyph technology, allowing consumers to customize ring tones and wall paper for their Motorola phones in a totally unique way. Consumers enter a small booth in which the Motoglyph technology literally comes to light. Utilizing a digital spray can, consumers write on a virtual graffiti wall creating images, words or their signature. A digital motion-sensitive software captures the writing movements of the consumer, translating the movements into digital tones and melodies. These tones create customized ring tones specific to the consumer’s illustration, and the actual illustration itself is captured to create customized wall paper for Motorola phones. The customized tones and wall paper are then accessible to the consumer to download to their own phone at www.hellomoto.com/motoglyph."
Posted by Michael Amin at 11:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 04, 2005
The latest: Ringtones reviews
Montana Kaimin, a University of Montana publication, has posted some ringtone reviews. Don't be surprised if this starts appearing in Rolling Stone or The Source at some point.
The concept of reviewing ringtones could be a big deal - imagine sales being defined by the latest review in Vibe!
Posted by Michael Amin at 11:59 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 03, 2005
PDA sales down and phone sales up
So here's an interesting stat: sales of PDAs like PalmPilots fell 13% in 2004 form 2003, and cell phone sales went up 30%. This is likely because of the "phone as a fashion statement" thing has incredibly broad appeal, but also because (contrary to what the above article implies) it is much easier for the average consumer to get the latest ringtones for their phone than for their PDA - which often doesn't have ringtone capabilities. Amazing numbers, especially when you consider that 15 years ago, cell phones were something mostly used by yuppies and high-powered hollywood and business executives.
Posted by Michael Amin at 11:58 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 02, 2005
Complaints about the ringtone frog - his private parts, that is
As a follow-up to my report in an earlier article, the ringtone frog is back, and he's in trouble. According to this article, 60 people have complained about the European television commercials airing an animated frog riding a motorcycle. The complaints are not that the sound he is making is annoying (despite it having sold millions of ringtones), but that he has a tiny penis flailing about.
"Twenty-two people complained they were worried children might see the advertising, which also promotes screen savers and mobile videos. Five parents said they were embarrassed by questions their children had asked."
One can probably guess that is this ever hits the United States, the penis will be removed completely. Or at least the frog will be wearing pants.
Posted by Michael Amin at 11:17 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Can ringtones predict the Grammy Award winners?
So far has the ringtone come as an influence on the music biz, that the tone may be able to predict who will win Grammy Awards. This article goes into more detail...
"The Grammy Awards are becoming a more accurate reflection of music that is both popular and creative each year. As the awards show makes that shift, the popularity of ringtones could begin to play a role in which artists and songs receive nominations."
Kanye West and Green Day are expected to be big winners at the Grammys on February 13 as they have already been in the ringtone space. Not surprising, as the well-publicized fact that ringtone downloads have far exceeded legal music downloads in 2004 foreshadowed this.
Posted by Michael Amin at 10:53 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 01, 2005
Anna Nicole Smith is taking your message
Rogers Wireless, a Canadian carrier, is offering celebrity messages for your voice mail. That is to say, someone like Anna Nicole Smith will ask your caller to leave a message. This reminds me of that old Adam Sandler audio skit where farmer "Stinky Thumbs" Arbuckle pretends to be Anna Nicole asking the cow on a date...
Posted by Michael Amin at 11:27 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Nextel's Boost Mobile hits it big with hip-hop ringtone, "Anthem"
Boost Mobile, Nextel's youth oriented subsidiary, is offering one of the biggest ringtone hits. "Anthem", a song produced by Kanye West, and lyrics by Ludacris and The GAME, is making a big splash, not only as a charity track fro the United Negro College Fund, but as a radio hit.
"The Anthem track is now receiving airplay on the radio as a single, and generating major buzz in the underground music scene and clubs, which has helped propel ringtone sales among Hip-Hop fans nationwide. Boost Mobile customers can download the Anthem ringtone directly from their Boost Mobile phone. Approximately $1 per ringtone is donated equally to the three selected charities."
Although a dollar on every tone is being donated, the artists and carrier are still making a nice profit. This is big business, folks.
Posted by Michael Amin at 11:16 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Verizon Wireless and Just For Laughs offer comedy video for your phone
Just For laughs, the famous Montreal comedy festival, has teamed up with Verizon Wireless to offer streaming video of stand-up comedy and their well known "Gags".
"We see V CAST doing to wireless handsets what cable did to the TV set in the late '70s -- creating an entirely new industry, with new stuff to watch and a new way to watch it," said Andy Nulman, Airborne Entertainment president and a former TV producer with more than 150 shows to his credit."
One of the first major video efforts on the part of the massive Verizon Wireless, this is a step closer to what the industry calls "Video Ringers", where a piece of video is played on your phone screen as it rings. As phones are becoming capable of playing back high-quality video, more music artists will get on board with promoting their music videos and the next big ringtone thing. Imagine: if a consumer now pays $3-$6 for a ringtone of real music, how much will they pay for a ringtone of a music video?
Posted by Michael Amin at 11:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack