FRIDAY IN FOCUS
Crazy Frog: prince of ringtones
01-07-2005
by Ciara O'Brien
Once upon a time, the humble ringtone was just that -- a simple handful of notes that let you know a call was incoming. But along came a frog that changed everything, magically transforming everything around him to gold. Experts say the Crazy Frog won't be the last of his kind either, as the ringtones industry seeks to capitalise on the potential of 'real tones'.
If there's one thing that is guaranteed to set your teeth on edge, it's the Crazy Frog. You may wish the character would hop off the face of the planet, but the truth is, we'll probably see many more like him in the near future. A mildly catchy sound file linked with an unusual-looking character has exploded into a booming industry all of its own.
What started out as a novelty idea has evolved into a mass phenomenon that is slowly but surely invading mobile phones everywhere. Ringtones cover everything from classical music to Eminem, all available for download for a fee, all in the name of personalising the mobile phone.
Recently ringtones have moved beyond the polyphonic butchering of film theme tunes and pop songs with the advent of the "real tone," which means real music on your mobile, in MP3 format. That, in turn, is what's given us the plague of Crazy Frogs, along with numerous other "cute" characters that can inhabit a handset.
If theres one thing that the Crazy Frog has shown us, its the power of the ringtones market -- after all, this critter made the astonishing leap from a ringtone to a fully fledged chart number one. The tune even kept Coldplay out of the top spot in the charts in the UK and Ireland. Music lovers around Ireland must have been hanging their heads in shame at the news.
But who exactly is responsible for Crazy Frog's success? Experts say the credit -- or the blame -- lies firmly with the multi-pronged marketing push behind the character.
"The Crazy Frog is a bit of a crazy phenomenon," says Nitesh Patel, a researcher with Strategy Analytics. "It has really been driven by hard-core marketing on TV, and fairly targeted marketing." The Crazy Frog and its tune have been aimed at the younger end of the market. Although its single sampled the Axel F theme tune, which would be instantly recognisable to people in their late 20s and older, it seems it's the consumers in the 16 to 24 age group, some of the heaviest users of mobile phones, who are driving this phenomenon.
"A good gauge is the ringtone download charts," says Patel. He points out that ringtone downloads usually follow the pop charts, so it stands to reason that it is the younger sector of the market driving the striking growth in this area.
According to a recent report from Informa Telecoms, the real tone market is expected to be worth USD6.8 billion, out of a total mobile music market of USD11.3 billion, by 2010. The analysts also predicted that the ringtone market will move towards real tones, also known as true tones, and Patel agrees, but he believes the record labels may hamper the process somewhat, as they attempt through licensing to make back some of the money they missed out on with monophonic and polyphonic ringtones.
Irelands ringtone market may be in for a bit of a sea change, with the Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs getting involved in recent times. Complaints about overcharging reached the Office, prompting it to take action. In some cases, users weren't able to unsubscribe from the service; when the ODCA conducted its own investigation, it found that one service wasnt even living up to the promises it made.
"Consumers complained about practices such as overcharging, the stop message not ceasing subscriptions and text messages arriving in the middle of the night," said Carmel Foley, the Director of Consumer Affairs. However, one company, Jamster, agreed to refund Irish consumers who have been overcharged. In the course of the investigation, the ODCA joined up to Jamsters service and was promised six ringtones and six logos each month for EUR4. Jamster claimed the package in question was for six ringtones or six logos, but did not include both; however, the ODCAs records showed differently and the company committed itself to refund customers.
Given that the ringtone business is aimed at the younger sector of the market, experts warn that the subscription element of the services is often lost on children who sign up. In fact, during the ODCA's investigation, authorities discovered that the terms and conditions of Jamsters service state that users must be over 16 -- information that is often lost when subscriptions are activated over the phone. Foley described the sector as "vulnerable consumers".
Parents are of course being urged to keep a closer eye on their children's mobile phones. But keeping young spending in check may grow even more difficult -- as ringtone vendors are cheered by the runaway success of the frog, it's likely that they will redouble their efforts to introduce even more addictive characters in the months ahead.
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