back to article Ringback tones outselling ring tones

German operators are making more money from ringback tones than they are from ring tones, despite only having 2.3 per cent signed up. Real Networks, who are busy flogging ringback tone servers, reckon that Vodafone and T-Mobile made €26m selling ring tones in Germany last year, compared to €34m from ringback tones, and that …

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  1. Piloti
    Thumb Down

    What the.....

    ... hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, .............................

    I have worked for ov er a year with somebody who has "Yabadaba %$Q£"%$!£$% do" [Barney Rubble ?] as his RBT. the first time it is not funny, the second time, annoying the third hateful the 4975th time is.....

    hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them, hate them.......

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Go

    oooooohhhh

    I don't like the sound of this, I'm a grumpy fucker as it is. God knows what I'd be like after listening to whatever annoying tune is doing the rounds every time I ring someone up.

    I can feel my blood pressure rising already...

    On second thoughts...... maybe I can have one done by Martin Freeman that goes...

    "You're a cock,........You're a cock,........You're a cock,........You're a cock,........You're a cock,........You're a cock,........You're a cock,........You're a cock,........You're a cock,........You're a cock,........You're a cock,........You're a cock,........You're a cock,........You're a cock,........You're a cock,........You're a cock,........You're a cock,........You're a cock,........"

  3. Paul F
    Thumb Down

    What Piloti said

    With the additional observation that I want to harm people who have ringback tones by shooting them in the face, with a bear.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    WTF?

    silly

    I've found one or two people in the UK with them. Both times I thought i'd got through to some kind of music service, and hung up immediately.

    What a silly idea.

  5. Paranoid Consultant

    could I have...

    a UK engaged toned?

  6. Kieran 2

    Never heard of them before

    I would have a serious problem with someone else getting to choose the audio that blares out of my device. Presumably you can block them, at least?

  7. Stef 4
    Welcome

    @ Piloti

    Ctrl-V FTW

    Never experienced a ring-back-tone (other than the stand one of course), but I agree with the article, does sound naff.

    I for one welcome our new green-sleeves playing overlords.

  8. Joe 3
    Alert

    "Real Networks"?

    As in "Real Player"?

    When will these people stop tormenting us?!

  9. Jay Castle
    Thumb Up

    I've had this on my Orange phone for years....

    ....and I have had nothing but good comments from people - except my Grandmother who, despite several explanations, simply couldn't get her head around the idea and branded it 'weird'....

    I mean, who in their right mind WOULDN'T want to hear the Foo Fighters every time you call someone?!

  10. The Original Ash
    Pint

    Can I choose music?

    If I can have Bricklin - Walk Away as my RBT, they have a subscriber.

    HELLO SAN DIMAS HIGH! \m/

  11. Martin 71 Silver badge
    FAIL

    I'd simply report it as a fault

    After all, I dialled the number, it failed to ring.

  12. Aremmes
    Go

    Ignorance is bliss

    "But Real reckons the problem isn't that people don't like Ring Back Tones, only that they have no idea what they are."

    And yet people say that being ignorant is bad, here's an example of ignorance actually providing a significant benefit. It's just too bad that the beneficiaries are ignorant of the benefit, though.

  13. mh.
    Paris Hilton

    Could have potential though

    If you could assign them to different incoming numbers then you could play "The number you have dialled has not been recognised. Please check and try again" at people you didn't want to talk to. Alternatively you could just chuck the phone at people.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Different tones for different numbers?

    Could you tell cold callers to f-off? Or choose "The number you have dialled has not been recognised" for anyone trying to get money out of you?

  15. J-Bizzle™
    Paris Hilton

    Nice.

    A couple of my German mates have had these for a few years now, and I've ALWAYS wanted one. Though it IS confusing the first time you call someone and you hear something foreign in the ringing.

    Paris, because she likes something foreign in her... no, actually, I won't.

    P.S.Piloti, that's a problem with The Person not The Device... so just kill them. That's probably completely fine.

  16. Steve the Cynic
    FAIL

    it's also a daft name...

    To me, anyway. "Ring back tone" implies a noise my phone makes when the network RINGs it BACK, e.g. to let me know that you finally got off the phone. It does not imply a noise my phone makes in my ear when your phone is ringing.

    But what do I know?

  17. Paul 4

    A bad idea.

    They are stupid.

    1) It sounds like you have been put on hold.

    2) It is not good if you are over 16. Possibly funny if your mates hear it (Possibly), but do you realy want your GP/Bank/potential employer/anyone else you don't know to hear it?

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    Just hang up

    I've got a friend who works for T-mobile and called his mobile a couple of months ago and got one of these stupid f***ing ring tones, and promptly hung up in total annoyance at it. Saw him a couple of days later (well, I wasn't going to call him, was I?!) and asked what the hell it was and he said that all employees were required to have them on their work mobiles, and apologised for the terrible racket.

    As Piloti, these ring back tones are truly horrendous to listen to and blooming awful if you are trying to make a call in a noisy environment. Just hang up if you hear one.

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    Who would have thought..

    Didn't know of the term "Ring back tones" but find that I've had the ability to inflict them on people via my Truphone account for some time.

    As to playing different tones to different people, well, I find Advanced Call Manager allows me to block anyone with a witheld number - or I can send them to voice mail hell or wherever, whilst my friends can still get through.

    Regards

    Neil

  20. max allan
    Joke

    A great use for them

    After some playing with them when I worked for Three, I settled on the music from 2001 (sorry can't remember it's name. Goes beeeeeeeep, beeeep, badam, dom, dom, dom...)

    Anyway, the deal with these is that the phone rings once normally, then switches to the music. So people would hear "ring" then "beeeeep" assume the call had dropped/gone wrong and call someone else.

    Lo and behold my quotient of annoying calls from people who didn't know me but wanted to ask pointless questions dropped hugely. I'd still get the first ring while the phone was in my pocket, but if I wasn't too quick on the draw, they went away.

    I love them, I love them, I love them, I love them, I love them, I love them, I love them, I love them, I love them, I love them, I love them, I love them, I love them, I love them, I love them, I love them.

    (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

    It's the next best thing to the people who are asking for a "f%£$ off" "ring tone" (as I think 3 were calling them then.)

  21. Fluffykins Silver badge

    @max allan

    It's "Also Sprach Zarathustra" (Thus Spoke Zarathustra) by Richard Strauss.

    Best played loud.

    So there.

    And while we're on the subject of RingBack tones, how about: "I'm sorry Dave, I can't do that"

  22. AC 4
    Linux

    so,

    people pay money for something they don't even hear themselves? A fool and its money ...

  23. Gary 23
    Unhappy

    Oh dear...

    One of my friends had one of these on her phone a few years back. I don't see the appeal to be honest. What's the point of paying for something that you're never going to hear (unless you ring yourself) and potentially annoys the person calling?

    I remember that my friend had picked some song that was in the chart at that moment in time. Since most music in the charts these days is a load of bollox, you can guess it was going to be pretty shit. Even worse, it could be this years X-Craptor winning song!

    Oh really hope that people in this country don't every find out that these things exist. Because most 10-18yos will have them.... Just thank god they weren't popular when the Crazy Frog was in full swing... or you'd here it when someone's phone rings AND when you're ringing someone!

  24. Matthew 3
    Thumb Down

    Only knew about it 'cos of Martin Lewis

    One of his blogs mentioned that he tried one of these and didn't realise it had worked until a colleague asked about his unprofessional selection.

    Surely there should be some sort of requirement for a common tone for engaged, busy and ringing? Maybe I'm just turning into an old fart but the idea of confusing people just for the sake of it seems like a bad idea.

  25. D@v3
    Stop

    from my experience

    when you call a phone with one of these, you can still here the ringing in the background, so whatever clever little noise you have is marred by the standard ringing. (although the last one i heard was a good few years ago, so they might have improved by now)

  26. Piloti
    Thumb Down

    @ AC4 : 1455GMT

    You know, that never occured to me.

    Are they a subscription thing or a one off ? Being network based it would not surprise me if they were on a subs... which means most people who habve them probably don't even realise they are paying for them....

    P.

  27. It'sa Mea... Mario

    I know one person that had this about two years ago..

    Whenever I rang that person I thought I had been put straight through to there 'funky' answerphone message and would hang up.

    This kept happening until one day they accused me of giving them 'Pikey ring backs' (ring once/twice, hang up and wait for return call - very popular with low credit PAYG users). Of course I responded with 'No I don't, you keep sending me to voice mail'.. they then explained the service but I would not have known that it was called 'Ringback tones'.

    Very poor naming, implies that it relates to another telephoney type service as already mentioned by someone else..

  28. Adam Salisbury

    I had one of these...

    Good until you realise everyone who calls thinks it's a weird musical voicemail message and hangs up on you!

  29. Nic Brough 1
    Thumb Down

    Hmm

    That explains a couple of people I've hung up on recently. Never heard of them before.

    Much as I'd prefer something more interesting than <ring><ring> the problem is that it's standardised and I don't have to think about it, I know it means the phone is ringing on the other end.

    If you try to make me think when I shouldn't have to (i.e. "does this mean it's ringing, or have I dialled wrong"), then tough, I'm not wasting my time calling you. Stop making my life more complex, I'm perfectly capable of screwing it up without any help.

  30. Anonymous Coward
    Headmaster

    @Max Allan

    Pffft, I think you'll find it goes:-

    "duuuuhhh, duuuhhhhhh, DUHHHHHHHH.........DUH DUHHH.....be-dam dam dom"

  31. Alan Esworthy

    The only one way I'd use this...

    ...is if "silence" is an option.

  32. Version 1.0 Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    Coming soon ...

    Busytones?

    I'd buy if I could get Father Jack saying ... well, almost anything really.

  33. Daniel B.

    Fortunately, it hasn't catched up here

    It has been toted as "cool!" since at least 2007, however I've had only two mobiles playing these "ringback" tones on me. It was one of those corny pop-songs (and I'd like to note that it was the SAME frickin' song for both numbers!) which annoyed me to hell. I use the dialling tones to avoid getting sent to voicemail, and people using these screw up my count!

    Also, it seems that these "ringback tones" (marketing over here calls 'em "while you answer tones") are all "choose from these tones", and you can't put up your own. Sad, as I'd like the "Also Sprach Zarathustra" ringback tone. Though I think that would be better to have as my actual ringtone.

  34. Robert E A Harvey
    Paris Hilton

    yawn yawn

    The phone companies take quite enough money off me already, thank you very much.

    Paris, 'cos its the sort of thing you can only sell to airheads.

  35. Graham Marsden
    Grenade

    Can I have one...

    ... that goes

    "Text me and I'll call you back if *I* think it's important"...

    "Text me and I'll call you back if *I* think it's important"...

    "Text me and I'll call you back if *I* think it's important"...

    "Text me and I'll call you back if *I* think it's important"...

    "Text me and I'll call you back if *I* think it's important"...

    "Text me and I'll call you back if *I* think it's important"...

    "Text me and I'll call you back if *I* think it's important"...

  36. Al Jones

    Timed calls

    There was a time when mobile calls didn't use any "airtime" when the phone was ringing, because the ringtone was actually built into the callers phone, so there wasn't any need to waste bandwidth sending that sound over the air to the phone, and technically, you weren't supposed to be billed until the caller answered the phone.

    The problem was that the ringtone used in the UK is not the same as the ringtone used in Europe and the US, and the ringtone used in the UK wasn't part of the cell-phones firmware, so the ringing sound that you heard when you called from your cellphone was actually sent over the air from the callees provider.

    So it seems that UK mobile providers have been using "ring back tones" from day one, you just didn't get to choose which tone they used for calls to your number!

  37. Alan W. Rateliff, II
    Paris Hilton

    Hate the bloody things

    I hate ring-back tones. I can never really tell what they are supposed to be, anyway, because of horrible distortion, either too loud or just a crappy recording.

    Definitely not worth the money people spend. I have told more than one friend to not assign one to me.

    Paris, not worth the money.

  38. Dale Morgan
    Paris Hilton

    i want one

    anyone know if vodafone do these as a personalised version? i would be more than happy to pay a monthly subscription so everyone who cals can here me say "ring ring, ring ring"

    paris because shes full of win

  39. jake Silver badge

    Whatever.

    One more reason that I'll use my Nokia 5185 until they pry it out ^W^W^W^H phone company refuses to let me use it anymore.

    Honestly ... Phone makes "ring" noise, answer it. If you are not in the mood to answer your phone, why is it on? Everything else is cruft. And bloody annoying to everyone else in attendance, to boot. It's NOT "cool", it's glam (or bling, or whatever) ... glitter that says nothing more than "look at me, I'm a sad loser who thinks I'm cool!"

    And then there are the truly sad idiots who use their "speaker phone" cell phones in public ... do they REALLY think that sharing their personal business in public makes them look cool? In reality, it demonstrates to the world at large that they (and the people at the other end) have nothing of value to contribute ... Good candidates for chlorination of the gene pool, all of 'em.

  40. Chris Parsons

    Mr Pedantic

    @Max Allan

    Also Sprach Zarathustra by that great old Nazi Richard Strauss.

  41. zenp
    Pint

    Minimal tech level phone, maximum personal time....

    @ Jake

    ...and i thought i was retro with my 6310!

    I'll get the tin cans, you bring the string...

  42. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    No, I cannot hear you now.

    The first time a called someone who had this on their phone, I just assumed he was in a bar and couldn't hear me....It turned out that he was in a bar and couldn't hear his phone, but to me it sounded like he answered and simply couldn't hear anything.

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