Keeping it Real: Ringtone Nomenclature made Official
January 25th, 2006 | by amarfresh |Ringtone, polyphonic, monophonic, real tones, true tones: is it tech-speak, marketing-speak or both?
Until recently (last 5 years) ringtones for your phone were strictly mono- or polyphonic. For arguments sake, this meant digital, midi, or synthesized versions of popular music adapted as a ringtone. There were no voices, a sort of musak for cell phones. Enter mp3s and .qcp formatted sounds. Billed as real tones, or true tones- these are essentially digital clips of actual songs used instead as a ringing sound for incoming calls. No different than the music on the radio or your CD player - only lower fidelity, shorter. (and more expensive.)
Out with the old and in with the new.
Quite obviously, a real song as a ringtone is much better than a synthesized rendition of a song. Knowing that this is what people would rather have, mobile content companies now promote real tones heavily. Well, since real tones are actual recorded music, there are all sorts of new royalties paid and owed for them. The artist, label, publisher, and every a-hole in the middle gets their cut of ringtone sales. Mobile content providers, not content with a smaller slice of the pie, started using cover songs as real tones. That is to say, these cover songs were actual recordings of no name bands playing popular music. What better way to sell these cover songs than to call them real tones?
Real tones dne Cover tones (aka soundalikes).
In the UK, the regulators are getting wise to the marketing ways of mobile content providers and are instituting guidelines which will mandate proper usage of the term “realtones.”
Under the initiative, companies will only be able to use the phrase “realtone” if they are selling a ringtone produced from an original recording “with the performer clearly identified in its marketing material”.
I guess they will start using the term “true tone” instead. :) USA next?
Link: Telegraph (via ringtonia.com:)