Cell Phone Ring Becomes Hit U.K. Single
"Crazy Frog Axel F," a ring tone based on the sound of a revving
Swedish mo-ped, is the first tune being used on mobile phones to cross
into mainstream music charts, said Gennaro Castaldo, a spokesman for
HMV, the British music retailing chain.
For all those of you who thought that the marketing people were
going a bit overboard with the many ringtones and customizations aimed
at a younger cell phone user, take heed! The power of
techno-youth is served. This ringtone beat out the previous #1
song by Oasis and a new release by Coldplay. In other words
it was not a slow music week that allowed this to happen. Kids
went out and decided to spend their hard earned pounds on a
ringtone.
Sure it won’t stay at the top long, but this is an omen of things to
come. Media is changing. First it was songs being turned
into ringtones. Now ringtones are songs. Soon TV and
streaming feeds on the Inet will start to blur. The question I
have is whether the media distribution establishment can come to grips
with the changes in time to avoid being buried by their own ignorance.
