Look who's singing your favourite tune

Mobile phone users believe the ringtones on their devices express their personal sense of style.

In today's high-tech world, if you own a mobile phone, you probably have a distinctive ring tone. From the latest songs on the music charts to nursery rhymes, and even Christmas carols, any sound can be saved on a cellular phone as a ringtone.

The sale of ringtones is fast outrunning those of CDs. According to Consect, a marketing and consulting firm in Manhattan, ringtones generated $4 billion in sales around the world in 2004. "In 2004, the Korean ringtone market was $350 million, while the CD market for singles was just $250 million," says Fabrice Grinda, CEO of Zingy, a ringtone company in New York that markets its tunes around the world.

Polyphonic ringtones are often sent to customers via WAP (wire access protocol). If the pin code is correct, the service providers upload the ringtone to the user's phone. A polyphonic tune is a small packet of code that plays as if it were a music box, producing a synthesised approximation of a song that resembles the original.

Recently the polyphonic ringtone acquired a competitor, called a master tone or true tone, which is a compressed snippet of actual recorded song, and emanates from the cellphone handset as if from a tiny radio.

The Crazy Frog Song, one of the most popular polyphonic ringtones, was later recorded as a single. When released in May 2005, it went straight to the top of the charts in the UK remaining there for four weeks.

"Ringtones are very important because they define the user's identity," says Sandeep Saighal, Sr. Manager Sales and Marketing, Telecommunication Division, Samsung Gulf Electronics. There is no doubt that consumers believe their ringtones evoke a certain personal sense of style.

"Nokia always aims at providing mobile devices that ensure the best experience for their users and it has a substantial history when it comes to special ringtones," says Talal Eid, Communications Manager, Nokia Middle East.

"The monophonic Grand Valse ringtone - which distinguishes Nokia devices from others - was introduced in 1994 on Nokia 2110. Eight years later Nokia introduced stereo-quality polyphonic MIDI tones, which were followed one year later by True Tones - ringtones made of real music."
Most companies allow users to sample a tone before buying it, but not all ringtones are compatible with all cellphones.

"Ringtones and games are like mobile entertainment. The recent trend is such that the latest music is converted into ringtones, which helps entertain people on the move. There are also instances when a ringtone can cheer you up," says Ganesh Iyer, Marketing Manager, Cellucom.

A majority of custom ringtone users are under the age of 30. Many users assign different ringtones to different callers. "Ringtone personalisation is easy to do and consumers truly appreciate it as it can increase functionality - on the one hand, one can have the same ringtone for all family members, and another ringtone for friends. One can even choose a different ringtone for each friend. The current trend among consumers is to download the latest ringtones available, as the ringtone business becomes an important one for content providers," says Eid.

Mobile phone companies often create unique ringtones that set them apart from their competitors. "The ‘Hello Moto' ringtone is a globally-recognised brand attribute that makes our handsets unique. For the past several years this has been a key differentiator for us. We also provide users with enablers to download their favourite tunes," says Harout Bedrossian, Product Marketing Manager, Motorola.

The ringtone segment has grown to such an extent that the international music industry has assigned a special category for these tunes. Billboard's first ‘Ringtone of the Year Award' was attributed to singer 50 Cent in 2004.

Ringtones have become big business for musicians too, especially now that handsets are sophisticated enough to play original songs or ‘realtones' to indicate an incoming call.

American rapper Eminem recently threatened companies that used his tunes and made them ringtone anthems. Attorneys representing the rapper's publishing companies, Eight Mile Style and Martin Affiliated, filed a lawsuit in the US district court in Detroit in an attempt to stop five companies from selling Eminem ringtones on the internet. "This is a big business," said attorney Howard Hertz, a representative for the plaintiffs. "We're talking hundreds of thousands of dollars a year."

It is believed that Eminem does not object to the ringtones themselves but to the absence of permission. This means that no royalties are being paid.

"Special ringtones appeal to consumers as they truly make the difference between a random mobile device and a unique possession with personality and character," says Eid. For instance, you can recognise that your phone is ringing without taking a glance at it, and different ringtones can be attributed to different callers, making mobile telephony a fun experience. The Nokia 8800 recently introduced ringtones created by the award-winning composer and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto."

Saihgal says his company makes special provisions for its Arab clientele. "We outsource Arabic ringtones from a third party. All our phones have Arabic ringtones embedded in them. The number of ringtones on a mobile phone depend on the memory size of the phone."

"Advanced voice features also allows your phone to ‘say' the caller's name as an alternative for conventional ringtones," says Eid. "Personalisation has reached new heights in originality as you can record any sound with Nokia's voice recorder and set it up as a ringtone - you can then hear your friends tell you to pick up the phone whenever they call. Hence, the mobile device has truly become part of every consumer's lifestyle."