August 28, 2006
Time may be up for that phoney music
The moment of truth may be looming for the infernal ring tone, reports The Age. A guerilla group calling itself the The Ringtone Society - a project dedicated to free polyphonic ringtones composed by international musicians - is ready to strike.
"With the help of the coming Melbourne International Arts Festival, the Dutch online collective plans to rid the world of uninspiring ringtones.
Comparing itself to tackling the graffiti culture by transforming public spaces and making public transport fun again, its mission statement is to "free the world of digitally dull, aurally repetitive, copy-cat mobile phone ringtones and reclaim the space for innovative global art and sound"
It will launch its attack in October at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, and invites festival-goers to attend a series of ringtone concerts.
... The ringtone market is expected to blossom further as consumers download entire songs on their phones through 3G technology, and customised ringback tones enable callers to hear songs instead of conventional network ringing tones. The phenomenon is also opening up new distribution avenues for songwriters.
For this latest initiative, Australian composers and musicians are asked to come up with original ringtones, be it jazz, heavy metal, country or classical, to add to a global online library.
Composers are asked to email ringtones as MP3 (polyphonic) files up to 30 seconds long to Lauren, at the Melbourne International Arts Festival: l.snelling@melbournefestival.com.au by 5pm on Monday September 11.
Compositions must be original and created specifically for the festival.
The compositions will be transformed into ringtones by the Ringtone Society, then made downloadable.
Composers will receive royalties through the Australasian Performing Right Association.
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