Ringtones Unite! Free the Ringtone!

From land-line to cellphone, the sound of a ringing phone didn’t make as huge a leap as the technology did. Sure the digital world gave us a few more choices for the standard “bwwwrriingggh!” but they still sounded like a “bwwwrriingggh.” Lucky for us, we have a mute function and the vibrate option.

The Ringtone Society, a platform initiated in the Netherlands by Muzieklab for the artistic development of the ringtone, would like to introduce ringtones people actually like into the world. Partnering with composers and musicians from all over the world, the Society intends to transform the cellphone environment with art: think graffiti on walls transforming a dull, grey cityscape into an atmosphere of color.

The objectives of The Ringtone Society are to stimulate “The Art of Ringtonism”, and the investigation of the possibilities for the mobile phone as a medium for music production and distribution.

According to Theo Andriessen, initiator of The Ringtone Society, the public is fed up with terribly produced ringtones that overflow the market. “It is time for an artistic offensive. The ringtone offers a new creative challenge for musicians and composers and a chance to be heard by a new public at several different locations.”

The Ringtone Society has already collected more than 500 unique ringtones, poetry tones and videotones worldwide. All ringtones recorded during this project can be downloaded free-of-charge.

[via textually]