What do your hairstyle, choice of music, choice of clothes, accessories and the ring tone of your mobile phone have in common? They all make a statement: about who you are, your age, what you're interested in and how you'd like others to see you. Every now and again a personality-defining fad comes along, and this season it's the personalised mobile phone ring tone.
The range of ring tones is now much more sophisticated than it used to be. Fans of rebel songs can choose The Fields of Athenry, and football fans their team's anthem. Those who grew up in the 1980s can get the themes of their favourite childhood TV programmes, and the chart-conscious try to keep their ring tone within the Top 10.
Anything from Britney Spears's latest whine to the National Anthem can be heard ringing shrilly from a coat pocket or a handbag. Nokia is currently the only brand of mobile phone on the Irish market with models that can have different ring tones sent to them by short message service (SMS) and then saved onto the phone. Brought up on a diet of 1980s television, I was tempted to put the A-team or The Muppet Show ring tones on my phone. But spontaneity and nostalgia won out, and I opted instead for the theme to that old reliable entertainer, Bosco, and to another puppet adventure show, Fraggle Rock.
This is going to be fun, I thought, until I looked at my phone bill. Getting cool new ring tones onto a mobile phone is expensive, whether you do it through the premium rate number, or buy one using your credit card over the Internet.
Although there are a number of players offering their services by premium rate number within Ireland, Dialaring.com and iTouch appear to be the most widely advertised. Those on a mission to find the most unusual or up-to-date will find themselves in ring tone heaven when they access either company's website or find themselves in front of an ad with ring tone listings. There is a choice of movie soundtracks, pop songs, traditional songs, classical tunes, national anthems, romantic songs and the UK Top 10. Mobile-owners call the premium rate number (at £1 or £1.50 a minute, depending on company), follow the voice prompts, enter the code appearing with their choice, and the ring tone is sent to them by SMS in a matter of minutes.
One ring tone provider, Irishmobiles.com, has been offering a limited range of free ring tones on its website since before last year. Because of the high demand for ring tones, however, it is costing the company a fortune to send the tones by SMS (between 10p and 15p each time). It also employs a full-time composer. Irishmobiles.com is considering starting to charge customers over the next six months.
"It's unbelievable the amount of money that some companies are making out of it. What we are hoping . . . is do it for £1.50, and then, say, give £1 to a certain charity, or something like that. If we are going to charge, that's the way we are going to do it," says Michael Minihan of Irishmobiles.com.
Although mobile phone owners are now spoiled for choice, with "a frightening amount" of ring tones available, according to Minihan, the favourite by far is the Eminem song Stan, which is Number 1in Dialaring's all-time top 20 list. So the next time you hear the strains of Stan in public, watch out. The daily scenario of lots of people fumbling for their phones when they hear a shrill rendition of Mozart or a familiar tone may not have changed. And the next ring tone I opt for? Stan, maybe. For free, definitely.
www.dialaring.com
www.itouch.ie
www.irishmobiles.com
www.yourmobile.com
Ring my bell
