A quick Google search will produce countless
articles trying to understand the popularity of 'ringtones';
hundreds of bloggers waxing lyrical on the benefits of
personalising their cell phones. Interviews with “experts” profering
sexy theories about ringtones and identity construction
lend an academic seriousness to the Crazy Frog phenomena.
The figures are pretty serious too, in the U.S.A. alone,
the Yankee Group predicts, ringtones will be worth $500
million. That’s roughly the GDP of Fiji. Obviously
our cell phones needs a voice, but does that voice need
to be a polyphonic adaptation of 'Living on a Prayer'?
The latest figures indicate that young people are
the greatest consumers of mobile music. According to
one UK survey, 15-24 year olds account for 80% of ringtone
spending. Studies by Nick Anderson of Sussex University
show that young people are far more aware of the "brand
personalty" (the particular identity affiliated
with certain brands) than older generations. Anderson
suggests that teenagers can deduce a person's character,
likes and dislikes, by their branded possessions. Considering
the amount of branding in the music industry, it's
not unreasonable to say that popular musicians have
their own “brand personality”. So, your
50 Cent ringtone, for example, communicates not only
a your taste in music, but also your compliance to
the whole ‘Fiddy’ meme. Ultimately, for
brand savvy youth, this says something about your personality,
which, you hope, everybody within earshot understands.
If a cell phone rings but nobody is around to hear
it, are you still down with 50 Cent? Ringtones are
about personalization, and about public performance.
The publicness of the ringtone is an integral part
of its appeal. It's unlikely that anyone would have
a ringtone on their landline. In a noisy urban soundscape
like the city, silence is an anomaly. Personalised
ringtones are simply another irritating sound in the
hullabaloo. Most of us manage tune out the sounds imposed
on us: muzak, hawkers, traffic, The O'Reily Factor,
so why try and impose yet another squawk? Perhaps the
ringtone is the audio equivalent of territorial pissing;
thirty seconds in which YOU pick the soundtrack. For
a few moments when your cell phone rings the 50 Cent
meme is the most powerful in the sonic environment.
Where “Fiddy” is relatively redundant as
a social force, certain ringtones allow citizens to
demonstrate their dissatisfaction or support of a cause.
Independent radio station WFMU have created a variety
of anti- George W. Bush ringtones available for download,
while engadget.com allows users to choose their preferred
presidential candidate ringtone. Condemning other commuters
to several cycles of 50 Cent, the theme from 'Star
Wars' or a Dubya quote demonstrates your individual
tastes and allows others distinguish you as either
nemesis or brethren.
In our efforts to relieve poverty, impede environmental
disaster or cure the global AIDs epidemic, ringtones
are totally and utterly useless. When it comes to enforcing
the myth that every individual is special, the artificial
uniqueness of a personalized ringtone is just the ticket.
Paradoxically, this demonstration of individualism
is only really effective in a crowd. As far as this
writer's concerned the real purpose of ringtones lies
in their ridiculousness. A recent gathering of sensible
adults turned to hilarity thanks to an improvised game
of "Name that tune". Using Foovely's ringtone
preview function, those gathered took turns choosing
snippets of songs for the party to guess. Recognising
a song in 30 seconds is so much harder in monophone!
Emily Sims is the opinionated word person at http://www.foovely.com/.
When she is not engaged in the analysis of ringtone
culture she is usually doing something else. Emily
currently resides in Melbourne, Australia. It's a nice
city, though not quite as nice as Vancouver. While
she dislikes his music, Emily thinks 50 Cent A.K.A "Fiddy" will
probably get rich or die trying. Pity.
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