Mobile music awards for ringtones and caller tunes

Telecom presents mobile music awards for ringtones and caller tunes

Snoop Dogg, Ciara and UB40 have all topped the Telecom mobile ringtone and caller tune charts with more than 10,000 downloads each for Beautiful, 1,2 Step and Red Red Wine, making these some of the most popular mobile tunes amongst Telecom mobile customers

At a ceremony last night, awards were presented to international and local record labels for the top 20 songs that Telecom mobile users have downloaded as either a ringtone or caller tune.

Homegrown artists P Money, Scribe and Dave Dobbyn received Gold awards for Stop the Music, Keep on Calling and Slice of Heaven respectively, with more than 5,000 individual downloads for each tune.

"Increasingly mobile users are using music to imprint their individuality onto their phones, heralding an exciting new era in mobile content and entertainment," said Kevin Bowler, head of mobile marketing at Telecom. "Gone are the days when everyone in a room scrambled for their cellphone when they heard the ubiquitous ring ring. Now it's more like a music fest and you can get an idea of a person's age, tastes and personality by the mobile ringtones they choose."

The awards, organised in conjunction with mobile music content provider Mercury Mobility, follow equivalent levels set by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand for singles sales.

Kerry George, Mercury Mobility Content Manager said; "The sales of mobile ringtone and caller tunes are now just as valid a measure of an artist's popularity as CD or album sales. This collaboration between the recording and mobile industries has created a new channel for artists to reach their fan base."

Telecom has more than 3,500 music content items available to download, meeting increasing customer demand for the latest chart-topping ringtones, tunes and alerts, particularly from younger users.

"Its not just about giving customers the latest phone with the best features. Mobile content including ringtones or caller tunes, video clips screen savers and wallpapers are just as essential to today's mobile user," Bowler said.

The inaugural Telecom Mobile music awards have been presented for the following:

Platinum award (10,000 tru-tone and caller tune downloads):

- Beautiful by Snoop Dogg, EMI
- 1,2 Step by Ciara featuring Missy Elliott, Sony BMG
- Red Red Wine by UB40, EMI

Gold award (5,000 tru-tone and caller tune downloads):

- Stop the Music by P Money and Scribe, FMR
- Keep on Calling by P Money featuring Akon, FMR
- Slow Jamz by Twista, Warner Music
- Chop Suey by System of a Down, Sony BMG
- Baby Boy by Big Brovaz, Sony BMG
- Girls Just Wanna Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper, Sony BMG
- Soldier by Destiny's Child, Sony BMG
- Push Up by Freestylers, Shock
- Let Me Love You by Mario, Sony BMG
- Lose My Breath by Destiny's Child, Sony BMG
- American Idiot by Green Day, Warner Music
- Caught Up by Usher, Sony BMG
- Slice of Heaven by Dave Dobbyn, Sony BMG
- Don't Worry Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin, EMI
- Breaking the Habit by Linkin Park, Warner Music
- Naughty Girl by Beyonce, Sony BMG

ENDS

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