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One time, on a train, I was seated beside a young but very solemn woman in a headdress. If pressed, I’d say she was 28. She brought along no reading material, or baggage of any kind. I remember these seemingly inconsequential details for a reason.
Halfway through our commute, the distinct sound of “In Da Club” by 50 Cent was broadcast from her pocket. It was her cell phone. That’s when I realized this whole ring-tone business was for real.
But according to Sunday’s New York Times, “The ring-tone market is maturing. Retail sales of ring tones are expected to drop this year by $50 million, to $550 million, compared with 2006, according to Broadcast Music Inc., which handles licensing agreements for the tones.”
Over half a billion dollars? I can’t be the only person with a shocked-by-someone’s-ring-tone story. Got anything?
Comments (15)
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I was walking home the other day, and I heard Under the Sea from The Little Mermaid ring out from somewhere near by. I looked around because I was going to ask whoever had the phone where she got the song from (it was really good quality), and the only person there was this big guy. He saw me looking at him and flushed pretty badly and answered his phone and walked the other direction pretty quickly. It was a shame – I really wanted that ring tone.
posted by Lindsay D. on 4-10-2007 at 3:04 pm
1 day, at band camp…,
im sorry but that’s what this sounds like
posted by trouble on 4-10-2007 at 4:06 pm
I was sitting in a theater-like classroom waiting for a viewing period for a class begin. There were only about 6 of us there, and it was deathly still, when the theme for Harry Potter rang out. The guy skittered sheepishly out of the room, and I was nearly overcome with the urge to head home and watch something more entertaining (and magical) than whatever documentary we watched that evening.
posted by Jennie B. on 4-10-2007 at 4:56 pm
I recently hired a Mother’s helper and she had the same generic ring on her cell phone that I did.It was making us nuts trying to figure out who’s phone was “ringing”. We both had been meaning to get ring tones. That weekend got Drops of Jupiter by Train. She put FIVE different songs on her phone! I must be paying her too much LOL!
posted by CropTillDawn on 4-10-2007 at 5:11 pm
the first time i ever heard a customizable ring tone was on my phone about 6 years ago. back when they were just bad midi’s. so i don’t have a story where i was surprised by one, but i do remember the first time someone heard mine. i was leaving walmart after a purchase when my phone rang. it was my boss calling and we were talking business. as i walked toward my car in the lot i heard someone come running out behind me… he was running to catch up with me yelling, “dude… wait…. hey… dude…” i turned around and acknowledged him and he said, “dude, did your phone just play sandman? thats f*%@ing awesome!”
i knew then that it would get huge.
much love,
tuf
posted by tuffy on 4-10-2007 at 5:23 pm
I enjoyed the VW commercials they ran awhile back about stereotypes, so it was real funny when I was waiting for my car to be repaired at a VW shop when my phone rang. I hung up and the lady next to me said that she had the exact same ring tone and then her phone rang! It’s The Killers All These Things That I’ve Done. “I got soul but I’m not a soldier” to be exact. I guess the stereotypes are true
posted by Aimee on 4-10-2007 at 6:58 pm
Hired? You don’t get that from a pharmacist?
The surprising thing isn’t that all sorts of people have distinctive ringtones, but that people pay for ringtones, when it’s so easy to make your own.
It must have taken me all of five minutes with Audacity to rip 3-seconds from “My Sharona” and turn it into an MP3, mail it to my cell phone, and set it as the default ringtone.
posted by Paul Ding on 4-10-2007 at 7:15 pm
No silly that’s A Mother’s LITTLE Helper!
One Summer I was in New Mexico all we had was an 8 track of The Knack with My Sharona on it for TWO weeks solid. So I have no problem paying $2.49 for a song that makes me Happy :)
posted by CropTillDawn on 4-10-2007 at 8:37 pm
I was talking to my friend during work about what ringtones my friends are under. Then my boss comes by and asks what ring she’s under. I really didn’t know as soon as I start playing it I remember that it’s “Bankhead” by T.I. I felt so embarrased (seeing as how I work at a nursery).
posted by Rachel on 4-10-2007 at 9:27 pm
I guess if you don’t have an MP3 player on your phone it might explain someone being silly enough to pay for a ringtone. I just take a song I like from my playlist and set that as my ringtone. Of course I forgot that I had set it to “Uncle F*cker” from the South Park Movie as a joke when my phone rang during dinner with a potential client…
posted by jimbo on 4-10-2007 at 10:10 pm
I work in real estate as a receptionist. I was helping this older realtor when his cell phone went off and what was playing was Fergie’s “My Humps.” Talk about trying to be trendy…
posted by SuperEmi on 4-11-2007 at 8:11 am
i think my favorite ringtone was my obgyn’s her cell phone played breath. the rap song
“1 and then the 2 and then you gotta breath”
very fitting
posted by emily on 4-11-2007 at 8:20 am
Caveman, Let me guess – you’re from a time when they only had one joke?
The most surprising ringtone I heard was one that sounded exactly like the bell ring on an old rotary phone. It went off and before I saw my coworker reach for his cell phone, I thought, “What’s a rotary phone doing here?”
posted by Bryan on 4-11-2007 at 1:51 pm
I have no desire to have an mp3 as a ringtone, and I think its because I am a musician. If I want to hear actual recordings, I want it to sound good, not through the crappy speaker on a phone. It sounds like a pair of old headphones turned way up so you can hear them without wearing them. Terrible! (not a big fan of little clock radios either)
I actually prefer midi ringtones because it just sounds like a phone that happens to have the pitches of its ring arranged like music for novelty and humor. Actual recordings just make me realize how bad they sound.
posted by Aaron on 4-11-2007 at 3:33 pm
My two favorites; I was in a cab to the airport and the drivers phone rang. The ringtone was James Brown yelling ‘yeah… I feel good!!! ; My other favorite was the theme music from the old TV show ‘Get Smart’ (the main character in this comedy, Maxwell Smart, has a shoe phone).
posted by Stew on 4-12-2007 at 2:00 pm