AskMeNow expands search to include ringtones

AskMeNowplans to offer more than 5,000 ringtones and true tones from hip hop, country and hard rock artists, television and movie themes, and college fight songs, reports RCRNews.

"Using AskMeNow's service, customers can request the content using “natural language” commands. Specifically, the company said customers can request ringtones by texting the name of the song, requesting a list of songs by a particular artist, or texting a sample of the song lyrics to the company’s search service."

At 40, The Doors break on through, again

Eight years after the death of The Doors' magnetic frontman Jim Morrison, the band's surviving members are preparing launch a book and a wealth of activities to spark interest in the band among a new generation. [via Reuters]

"On tap: a new boxed set, the band's first authorised biography and a push into areas ranging from ringtones to a theatrical production in Las Vegas that will feature the group's music."

Record labels sell ringtones directly to fans

Record labels have latched onto the trend of selling ringtones and other mobile content directly to fans, rather than relying solely on wireless operators to generate sales, reports Reuters.

""I don't think you will see a (marketing) tool coming out of Atlantic Records -- anything from an album, flier or advertisement -- that doesn't have some sort of mobile promotion," says Cyndi Allnot, Atlantic Records' mobile marketing manager.

... Compared with other entertainment industries, like film or TV, the music industry is more sophisticated in its usage of text messaging as a promotional too. The music industry is more progressive because they are able to immediately see the financial gain" through ringtone sales, saysaccording to Dov Cohn, VP of product management and strategy at Motricity "and they're looking to take more control over it and build their brands more directly."

In some cases, labels can even charge a fee for the text messages sent in response to recoup their marketing costs, without selling a thing."

Halloween Ringtones

If you're looking for Halloween ringtones and ringback tones, check out Monstertones and Verizon Wireless - both have a large selection.

USA: 21 % have downloaded a ringtone

About 21 percent of U.S. subscribers have downloaded a ringtone (although only about 10% can be considered "active" downloaders), while about 9% have downloaded a mobile game, according to research from NPD Group, reports Reuters.

Music to our ears: Ringtones define who we are

If you had to read one article only, summarizing what the business of ringtones is all about. This is it. By Rebecca Schoonmaker, for The Eagle Tribune.

Excerpts:

... Ringtones really started to catch on in the United States in late 2004, following the lead of European countries like Germany, where Jamster is based.

Who is buying ringtones? The age range downloading the most 'tones 16 to 30, says Willner.

What are they buying? Hip hop is the favorite genre.

How much are they spending? Ringtones range from free to $3 per selection. For the mobile content companies, which also sell games, wallpaper, and screensavers for cells, ringtones are their top source of revenue, Willner said.

Why are they spending it? "That's the most amazing thing in the world," Goldsmith said. "You can buy a song off iTunes - a full three-minute (song) - for 99 cents, yet people are more than willing to spend $3 on a little clip. People have no resistance because it makes a statement. It's an extension of who and what you are."

Berger DeLeon says"there's a fundamental difference in how people view and use the Internet. Wen we go online, almost everything is free; we don't to have to pay for music. But with mobile matters, we're used to paying for every service - call time, text messaging, and ringtones."

Wikipedia on "Ringtone"

Just for the fun of it, I looked up "Ringtone" in Wikipedia. Here's what they say:

A ring tone is the sound made by a telephone to indicate an incoming call. The term, however, is most often used to refer to the customisable sounds available on mobile phones. This facility was originally provided so that people would be able to determine when their phone was ringing when in the company of other mobile phone owners.

A phone only rings when a special "ringing signal" is sent to it. For regular telephones, the ringing signal is a 90-volt 20-hertz AC wave generated by the switch to which the telephone is connected. For mobile phones, the ringing signal is a specific radio-frequency signal.

On August 5, 2006, the BBC reported that "Free ringtones" was the eighth most likely search term to return links to malware.

Above cell phone image from www.easyringtonemaker.com

Kakophone: DIY Ringtone

The Kakophone is a music-composition machine. Select a serial number and a magic code and the kakophone will create a ringtone in your chosen style.

Try different magic bar codes to produce results ranging from slow to fast, happy to sad, experimental to melodic.

The ringtone composed will always be different and virtually unique, with a total of one hundred thousand billion possible combinations.

To keep things interesting, the kakophone is reconfigured every day at midnight, meaning that even if you enter the same serial number and magic code, the machine will create a different tune from one day to the next.

[via Neotorama]

Peer to Peer on your Mobile

PeerBox Mobile is a free mobile peer-to-peer file sharing service for the mobile devices.

PeerBox enables mobile phone users to search and download millions of songs, ringtones, videos, pictures and games.

[via Bulletproof Productions]

Jibbs Sells One Million Ringtones of Hit Single 'Chain Hang Low'

15-year old St. Louis native Jibbs is riding high on the success of his hit single, "Chain Hang Low," with more than one million ringtones of the song sold before today's release of his debut album, .

Jibbs is only the second artist to ever go platinum with ringtone sales before a debut album release. The other artist was rapper Rick Ross. [ Press release]

"Just a few short years ago, it was unthinkable for sales on ringtones to go platinum," said RIAA Chairman Mitch Bainwol. "But here we are. We're transforming the way we hear our music."

According to industry experts, about 10 percent of music industry revenues worldwide now come from ringtones. " [ABCNews]

Halloween tones

Flycell is going all out for Halloween with horror scream, booos, growls, screams, gusts of haunted winds... as scary tones for your mobile phone.

Flycell.com announced today it is now offering Halloween-themed cell phone content starring classic horror movie villains Freddy Krueger from "A Nightmare on Elm Street," Leatherface from "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning," and Jason from "Friday the 13th." The slashers are featured in ringtones, wallpapers, and mobile games. [Press release]

Want the new Jamiroquai album weeks before launch?

English band Jamiroquai and O2 have teamed up with Nokia and Sony BMG for a special offer. But as Pocket Picks rightfully points out, the way it works is a bit complicated.

"If you buy a Nokia N73, N80 or N91 phone from an O2 store between today and the end of the year, you’ll get a voucher giving you access to a special online store, with a choice of 30 Jamiroquai hits and five of their videos.

The voucher lets you download any ten songs, one video, the ringtone of the band’s new single, and an image."

Music Free Bus campaign

Tom Wright and his girlfriend Valeria Martinelli are fed up with people playing music on their mobile phones when travelling on the bus, and it seems they are not alone. They've launched a Music Free Buses campaign, and it is quickly gathering pace. The Enfield Independent reports.

"Mr Wright said the people who play their music in this anti-social way usually have a hostile attitude towards other passengers who are too intimidated to ask them to turn it down.

The Music Free Buses website has been visited by more than 300 Londoners this week, and more than 150 people have signed a petition calling on Transport for London (TfL) to introduce a blanket ban of music on buses."

Jerry Springer Ringtones

Jerry Springer has launched some ringtones promoted in a 20 second spot during his show and available for download online or by dialing 1.888.JERRYTV to make a selection.

Click here to preview: "Jerry, Jerry, Jerry" or "Steve Steve, Steve", or Jerry signing off with "Take care of yourself and each other".

[via MocoNews]

A record released on a USB memory stick

Rock band Keane will be the first act to release a record on USB memory sticks, their record label says. The BBC reports.

The group's next single, Nothing In My Way, will be sold on the gadgets, which are the size of a cigarette lighter and plug directly into a computer. Only 1,500 of the devices will be produced, as Island Records tries to gauge interest in the new format.

...It is chiefly targeted at technology enthusiasts, many of whom have turned to unofficial downloads in recent years.

The device, which weighs less than 5 grams, will contain a video for the song and can be re-used as a memory card, with 512 megabytes of storage space.

The single also comes without copy protection, meaning that it can be played on a wide variety of digital music players.

... In 2004, EMI Music tried a similar experiment when it released Robbie Williams' Greatest Hits on a memory card for mobile phones and hand-held computers."

Notorious BIG Ringtones

The late Notorious B.I.G. - aka Biggie Smalls aka Christopher G. Wallace was a talented rapper, who was gunned down in 1997 while he was leaving a star-studded Vibe magazine party after the Soul Train Music Awards- - is about to become a massive presence in the ringtone world, as the entire mobile community has joined forces for an unprecedented campaign starring the legendary rapper, reports Hip Hop Galaxy.

"In anticipation of the eagerly awaited December 20th Bad Boy Records release of "NOTORIOUS B.I.G. DUETS : THE FINAL CHAPTER," today, December 1st, marks the launch of "B.I.G. Mobile Month" — as both the new album and B.I.G.’s biggest catalog hits have been transformed into a remarkable array of over 60 ringtones custom-tailored for the wireless world."

Previously: - Slain rapper revival through ringtones

Phat Tonez removes the adult-proof Mosquito ringtone from sale due to waves of complaints

In a PR Newswire press release, ring tone provider Phat Tonez explains why their company removed the teenager repellent "Mosquitotone" from their offerings following the 100th complaint that landed on their desk.

"Teachers have complained that their lessons are being disrupted by every other pupil turning towards the culprit when their mobile phone starts to ring with the mosquito sound.

According to James Winsoar, Company Director ofPhat Tonez- who by the way, launched the first ringtone customising business back in 1999: "Originally we thought the stealth ringtone was an amazing use of mobile phone technology, but we have to square up to our social responsibilities too and therefore have taken the unprecidented action of removing the ringtone from sale altogether".

"Originally we thought the stealth ringtone was an amazing use of mobile phone technology, but we have to square up to our social responsibilities too and therefore have taken the unprecidented action of removing the ringtone from sale altogether".

undersound

undersound is a new type of experience, an interface that is on your mobile phone and in the underground stations you pass through every day. [via we-make-money-not-art.com]

undersound will be spatially distributed at individual stations and throughout the wider tube network. You can add music to the system at upload points in the ticket halls, and you can download tracks on the platforms.

Each track in the undersound system will be tagged with its place of origin (the station where it was uploaded) and this information is visible as the track is being played. This may trigger memories and musings around your personal relationship to that place.

While in the carriages of the tube, you can browse undersound music of other people in range.

Because the system will be gathering metadata on the stations where the track has been (via uploading/downloading at the transfer points) and thus its spread within the network, the time it has been in the system, the number of times it has been played, the number of people who have played it, and so on, you will be able to see this information when you look at other people's music.

You can browse through other's tracks anonymously, but if you decide to download a song from someone else an alert will be triggered on their phone letting them know that you are grabbing one of their tracks.

Compulsory Licenses Cover Ringtones

The Copyright Office has decided that compositions used for ringtones may be subject to a compulsory license.

The decision is a victory for record labels that want to offer ringtone operators the master rights and publishing rights as one package. [Billboard.biz via Unwired.cc]

Warner Music sees Asia as driving force behind mobile music growth

Asia is now the driving force behind demand for mobile music services, which would make up for telecom firms' lost revenue from their voice-only services, US recording label Warner Music Group said, reports Forbes.

" South Korea and Japan dominate the mobile music market and Asia Pacific holds the largest market for services to download music onto cellular phones, with sales worth 3.2 bln usd in 2005.

Consumers there spend more than twice as much on mobile music as they do on physical products,' he said in a speech at a telecommunications conference here.

The US recording label has invested millions of dollars on popular Asian artists to tap the growing popularity of music downloads in the region.

'The future of music definitely does not rest on simply exporting Western superstars... on the consumption side, Asia Pacific already constitutes a healthy 20 pct of the global recorded music market and is the largest mobile music region in the world.

'At Warner, we consider Asia to be the world's incubator not just for technology but for how people use technology.'

Your own pastor's voicetone for your mobile phone

In an article from The Philadelphia Inquirer on how religions around the world are harnessing new technology to spread the messages, this part caught my eye:

Faith Mobile will soon launch a teen portal FaithXL. FaithFone is planning to partner with ministries to use to provide ringtones that would be their own pastor's voice reciting a Bible verse, said Larry Witherspoon, managing director. The ministry will net a percentage of the profits."

Music sales weaken in first half

The Financial Times reports on the state of the music industry.

"The decline in music industry revenues accelerated in the first half of 2006, defying record executives’ hopes of returning to growth this year and raising fresh questions about whether they are winning the fight against piracy and illegal downloads.

Revenues from physical formats, such as compact discs and music videos, were down 10 per cent worldwide, compared with the 6.7 per cent decline seen in the previous full year.

... The legal digital music market continued to accelerate, rising 106 per cent to $945m, or 11 per cent of the total recorded music market - double the share it claimed at the end of 2005. In the US, where digital sales increased by 84 per cent, online and mobile music now accounts for 18 per cent of the total market."

Improvisation for Two Altered Telephones

Improvisation for Two Altered Telephones, a performance from 1999 by Julie Adler and Andrew Bucksbarg. [via we-make-money-not-art.com].

The telephones for this piece were altered by adding an AM/FM radio circuit to the phone interface. The radio circuit produces sound when its speaker output is fed back into the circuit at various points and in varying degrees.

The resulting sound is controlled through the phone keypad and a few added knobs (variable resisters).

Classic rock driving ringtone growth

While hip-hop acts may rule today's ringtone charts, yesterday's stars are introducing the format to a broader audience and drive tomorrow's growth. The Washington Post reports.

"Only about 10 percent of wireless subscribers buy ringtones today, primarily young adults purchasing hip-hop and R and B-themed content. Record labels and wireless operators are keen to expand their market, particularly as the dominant format shifts from polyphonic ringtones to master recording clips. Exploiting the vast library of catalog music, they say, is emerging as a key strategy in that effort.

Acts like Devo, the B-52's, the Ramones, the Allman Brothers Band and Jimmy Buffett are generating healthy ringtone sales, and even Pink Floyd has found its way onto the mobile deck. Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" is one of the best-selling catalog ringtones of all time, with more than 1.2 million units sold, and became the first licensed track to appear in a mobile videogame.

Indeed, catalog-based ringtones are now the format's fastest-growing segment. Universal Music Group (UMG), for instance, says catalog ringtones sales are up 80% from last year and now represent 10 percent of all its ringtone sales."

Motorola iRadio Debuts Public Radio Content

Millions of loyal public radio listeners in the US will soon be able to tune in to their favorite public radio programs and podcasts on-the-go and on-demand through Motorola's iRadio service. [via ContentBusiness]

"The service includes a growing library of more than 600 channels of music and talk, best-selling audio book content, educational and language courses, self-help programs, local news and weather, and classic radio shows."

A Fatwa Against Ringtones

According to Cellular News, an imam at a Mosque in Saudi Arabia issued a fatwa against mobile phones after one rang during prayers on Saturday, playing Arabic pop music.

"The fatwa states that the next time somebody allows their phone to go off in the congregation, the imam could throw the guilty person out of the mosque."

Create Custom Spoken Ringtones with AT&T Labs

AT&T Labs has a web page that will convert whatever you type into spoken words. This allows you to create some custom voicetones for your device. [via Smartphone Thoughts ]

Hallmark Sound cards - to keep pace with e-cards and SMS

This is wild. According to The Washington Post, in order to keep pace with e-cards and text-messaging, Hallmark Cards launched earlier this year a new line called Sound Cards, which uses original songs from original artists. ... Many of the songs included in the collection required three separate licensing agreements – one for the artist, one for the song and one for the record label.

"The Christmas will bring waves of seasonal cards, and while some cards tied to movies and TV - including "Star Wars" and "Law & Order" - are already available, a new wave will hit the stands in January.

... Hallmark's chief rival, Cleveland-based American Greetings Corp., is designing cards that include everything from sound and movement to lighting effects."

Phone firms, makers pin hopes on digital radio

According to Kyodo News, reparations are under way for the March startup of digital radio broadcasting, a technology that will offer listeners both high-quality sound and songs now available only on cell phones, as well as data transmission of software and animation, among other services.

"Mobile phone firms and electronics manufacturers are eagerly awaiting the start of digital radio, seeing it as a means of delivering not only CD-quality sound, but also animation and cell phone ringtones.

... Another advantage of the new format is its ability to transmit large amounts of data to an unlimited number of people simultaneously at low cost using radio waves.

Radio stations will broadcast music digitally and listeners with a special receiver will be able to store it for later listening.

Cell phone companies have already set up a pricing and royalty payment system to address the copyright issue and are hoping the system will require only minor adjustments once the service begins."

Teen repellent is Ig Nobel winner

The much written about device that repels teenagers has won the peace prize at this year's Ig Nobel , reports the BBC, the spoof alternative to the rather more sober Nobel prizes.

"Other winners included a report into why woodpeckers do not get headaches. All the research is real and published in often prestigious journals.

Unlike the recipients of the more illustrious awards, Ig Nobel winners get no cash reward.

Marc Abrahams, editor of science humour magazine Annals of Improbable Research, which co-sponsors the awards, said: "The prizes are intended to celebrate the unusual, honour the imaginative - and spur people's interest in science, medicine and technology."

The winners are given a one-minute acceptance speech, the time policed by a loud eight-year-old girl.