A quick Google search will produce countless articles trying to understand the
popularity of 'ringtones'; hundreds of bloggers waxing lyrical on the benefits of
personalizing their cell phones. Interviews with "experts" proving sexy theories
about ringtones and identity construction lend an academic seriousness to the
Crazy Frog phenomena. The figures are pretty serious too, in the USA alone, the
Yankee Group predicts, ringtones will be worth $ 500 million. That's rough 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 associated 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 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, everyone within earshot
understands.
If a cell phone rings but nobody is around to hear it, they are 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 illegally that anyone
would have a ringtone on their landline. In a noisy urban soundscape like the city,
silence is an anomaly. Personalized 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'Reilly 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 tie poverty, impede environmental disaster or cure the global
AIDs epidemic, ringtones are totally and utterly useless. When it comes to enforcement
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 concern 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 collected took turns choosing snippets of songs for the
party to guess. Recognizing a song in 30 seconds is so much
harder in monophone!
