Proposed Candidate Ringtones. Taking a cue from the Obama campaign, Billion Dollar President (a new public radio show) whips up some possible ringtones for the other candidates. Be sure to check out Kucinich and Huckabee. There's also a contest to design your own.
posted by jtajta on Nov 6, 2007 - 7 comments

So What?
posted by persona non grata on Jul 26, 2006 - 32 comments

Ringtones are a growing concern and not just when people don't shut them off. Jamster is a weekly ringtone subscription that advertises to kids on channels like Nick and MTV. Kids are attracted to crazy frogs like a magnet and are using the service without parental permission. Now Britain is launching a new inquiry into Jamster's business practices. And lawyers in California filed a class action lawsuit against the company. But Jamster isn't just some fly-by-night operation trying to milk as much money from kids as they can before regulators crack down. Jamster is owned by VeriSign.

It's also a fair question whether it's worth paying 3 bucks for a few seconds of a song that sounds like a player piano, when it costs less than a buck to get the whole thing on the web (especially now that that crazy frog is a single). Why can't you just pay the 99 cents or whatever to get the song on your phone?
posted by kenneth on Jun 29, 2005 - 77 comments

Interesting article from The Guardian discussing the fact that people seem willing to pay for annoying ringtones, but seem unwilling to pay for near-CD-quality music. Unfortunately it doesn't really address the question of "why?"
posted by jedro on Jan 11, 2002 - 15 comments

cell phone rings? the next napster. (could, could, could. do you think record companies will actually pursue this?)
posted by rebeccablood on Apr 24, 2001 - 23 comments