Indie Ringtones
Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2005 11:49 am
Digital Rights Agency to Launch "Indie" Ringtone Service
Jonah Flicker reports:
Let's face it, our beloved indie rock really isn't all that "indie" anymore. Getting giddy over the newest Death Cab song, Franz Ferdinand B-side, or Modest Mouse summertime jam doesn't render you part of some exclusive club these days, if it ever did. Mainstream radio, teen soap operas and yuppie ad campaigns are saturated with indie bands, and the sky hasn't fallen...so why not our cell phones? The blandly-named Digital Rights Agency recently launched Bliptones, which a press release claims is the world's first "indie-only ringtone webstore". For two bucks, bliptones.com will happily sell you a ringtone by Death Cab, the Decemberists, Sleater-Kinney, Deerhoof, Xiu Xiu, Low, Kid 606, or any of roughly 130 other performers, most of whom have only one ringtone currently available through Bliptones.
Digital Rights Agency's managing director, Tuhin Roy, sees the venture as helpful to indie labels. "By building the Bliptones brand through online and offline marketing and making it an outlet exclusively for our clients, we are providing our labels with an important leg-up in the mobile entertainment market," says Roy. DRA has a long history working with indie bands and labels, helping them reach vaguely described "digital outlets" around the world. In the past, they've distributed Asphodel, Barsuk, Def Jux, Darla, Kill Rock Stars, Dim Mak, and more.
For now, Bliptones will "only" be available to customers of AT&T, Bell Canada, Cellular One, Cingular, FIDO, Rogers AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile...in other words, about 80 percent of the whole goddamn cell phone market. A Google search will turn up numerous "indie" ringtone sites that are already in existence; but Bliptones just might make the search for a Decemberists ringtone a bit easier. Before you go buy that Hella ringtone you've always wanted, though, keep in mind that every single human on this planet has the physical strength necessary to crush your cell phone into a zillion pieces, if you give them a reason. We trust we've made ourselves clear.
* Digital Rights Agency: http://www.digitalrightsagency.com/
* Bliptones: http://www.bliptones.com/
Jonah Flicker reports:
Let's face it, our beloved indie rock really isn't all that "indie" anymore. Getting giddy over the newest Death Cab song, Franz Ferdinand B-side, or Modest Mouse summertime jam doesn't render you part of some exclusive club these days, if it ever did. Mainstream radio, teen soap operas and yuppie ad campaigns are saturated with indie bands, and the sky hasn't fallen...so why not our cell phones? The blandly-named Digital Rights Agency recently launched Bliptones, which a press release claims is the world's first "indie-only ringtone webstore". For two bucks, bliptones.com will happily sell you a ringtone by Death Cab, the Decemberists, Sleater-Kinney, Deerhoof, Xiu Xiu, Low, Kid 606, or any of roughly 130 other performers, most of whom have only one ringtone currently available through Bliptones.
Digital Rights Agency's managing director, Tuhin Roy, sees the venture as helpful to indie labels. "By building the Bliptones brand through online and offline marketing and making it an outlet exclusively for our clients, we are providing our labels with an important leg-up in the mobile entertainment market," says Roy. DRA has a long history working with indie bands and labels, helping them reach vaguely described "digital outlets" around the world. In the past, they've distributed Asphodel, Barsuk, Def Jux, Darla, Kill Rock Stars, Dim Mak, and more.
For now, Bliptones will "only" be available to customers of AT&T, Bell Canada, Cellular One, Cingular, FIDO, Rogers AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile...in other words, about 80 percent of the whole goddamn cell phone market. A Google search will turn up numerous "indie" ringtone sites that are already in existence; but Bliptones just might make the search for a Decemberists ringtone a bit easier. Before you go buy that Hella ringtone you've always wanted, though, keep in mind that every single human on this planet has the physical strength necessary to crush your cell phone into a zillion pieces, if you give them a reason. We trust we've made ourselves clear.
* Digital Rights Agency: http://www.digitalrightsagency.com/
* Bliptones: http://www.bliptones.com/
