New Tunes For Cell Phones

Cell-Phone Tunes Are As Varied As The People Who Use Them

(CBS)  That annoying cell phone ring you hear at all the inappropriate times and places is changing its tune.

Early Show contributor Laurie Hibberd discovered for this week's Hib Report that those tunes are about as varied as the people who have gone wireless.

Like the beat of the city, the wireless phone ring has become just another sound of our techno savvy society.

It was once a luxury, but Hibberd says the cell phone is now a necessity. Almost everyone has a cell phone. So the wireless companies are doing all they can to make sure their customers stand out in a crowd.

Now your favorite music from your favorite artists can become the ring you answer your cell phone to — creating a little individuality among so many wireless users.

"I'd say the cell phone in five years will be what the boom box was five years ago," Sociologist James Katz said. He has published several studies on man's relationship with the mobile phone.

"From [a cell phone user's] ring, you can tell what it is they want to say about themselves to other people," Katz explained. "How hip they are, who their heroes are and where they fit in the larger cultural framework that we live in."

It is a concept that especially rings true with teens. And keeping that ring distinctive has created a whole new revenue stream for wireless companies.

"Our downloads range from a $1.50 to $2.50 per download," says Jeff Hallock of Sprint PCS.

Since launching its PCS service last fall, Sprint has sold more than 10 million of their ringers and screen savers. Industry leader Verizon Wireless hasn't fared too bad either.

"This is comparing ring tones and video games and applications like planners and things, you're seeing well over two million in the quarter," says David Samberg of Verizon Wireless.

Earnings are on the rise for participating record companies and artists as well.

"Sean Paul has actually had more downloads of his song 'Give Me The Light' than he has sold singles of the same song," notes Hallock.

Enough songs are now being downloaded each week to warrant top 10 lists. And the variety of rings reaches far beyond mainstream music.

"It's everything from the latest hits, to cats meowing, to toilets flushing," Samberg explains. "That's what people are using as well."

Using a new Web browsing cell phones, users simply access the Internet and download as many rings as they want — for a price.

But the new sounds of incoming calls may annoy some in movie theaters, restaurants or wherever else they may expect quiet.

"We're just at the tip of the iceberg," says Katz. "We're headed into ring phone hell, I'm sorry to say. In the future, you aren't going to be able to walk down the street or go to the store without hearing some blankety-blank symphony ringing in your ear."