Last weekend, Cnet News ran a special on the new political implications of ringtones. The possible politics of ring-tones is one of the many discussions that developed out of the MobileActive conference that took place last month in Toronto where representatives from the Philippine group Txtpower shared the way they used ring-tones to severely criticize President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. A conversation that took place between Arroyo and former Commission on Elections commissioner Virgillo Garcilliano (a.k.a. Garci) before the elections were made public was recorded and converted into a ringtone by TxtPower. The “Hello Garci” ring-tone features music and the voice of Arroyo saying, “Hello? Hello? Hello, Garci?... So, will I lead by more than one million?” Although possession of the audio file was declared illegal under a wire-tapping law, it spread quickly throughout the country, where SMS is a major form of communication, and the ability to share ringtones over SMS is also widely available. While the Filipino story was already a couple of months old when demonstrated at the Toronto conference, it was the first time many of us, especially from North America, were able to play with and see the technology of homemade ringtones first hand. It also afforded us the first opportunity to consider the implications of homemade ringtones for U.S politics. We also spent some time trying to find an easy way to get the ringtones downloaded fom the txtpower website onto our phones.

This ended up being an important consideration. While mobile hacks such as myself have been downloading ring-tones to our phones since the service first became available, most Americans are not quite there yet. But the number of Americans downloading ring-tones is increasing according to an Ipsos poll which puts the amount of mobile phone owners who have actually downloaded ring-tones to their phone at 23%. That translates to approximately 30 million Americans, a drastic increase from the 5% of a year ago. And you cant talk about anything mobile without pointing out that the highest rate of ring-tone downloads occur amongst the American youth market.

But what this poll does not take into account is the various ways in which a mobile user gets ring-tone content onto their phone. Ring-tone installation in the United States does in fact vary, not only from carrier to carrier but also from phone to phone. As the Cnet article points out, "some phones are not allowed to install ring-tones from anywhere other than their phone carrier's site, or are not allowed to send files that are designated as ring-tones to other phones." There are also different types of ring-tone file formats for different types of phones. And these are only commercial ring-tones we are talking about. When it comes to installing custom homemade ring-tones the current network / cellphone infrastructure can be a real barrier.

The problem begins with creating the ring-tone in the first place. While its relatively simple to create a 30 second MP3 or WAV ring-tone, not all phones can play those formats or may require additional software to do so. Even my Treo 650 doesn't let MP3 ring-tones play by default. Luckily, there are software applications that will help any ring-tone maestro convert his or her MP3 or WAV recording to other standard mobile device formats such as AMR, QCP and WMA. Most of these are for Windows (Mac users can use Sound Grinder) . But even these files won't play in all phones, especially older phones which may only be able to play MIDI (.MID) like Polyphonic ring-tones. So the only phones to truly take advantage of this are 3rd Generation Phones, which are now only beginning to proliferate the market.

In the future this may become easier as 3G phones become more standard. This could be further helped as more networks and phone manufacturers conform to the 3GPP (for GSM) and 3GPP2 standards for CDMA phones such as those provided by Verizon. These .3GP files are optimized for Third Generation mobile devices. Quicktime Pro is just one of the more mainstream softwares that allows one to export 3GPP and 3GPP2 files from MP3 or WAV. But for now, an exported .3GP file converted from a self made MP3 file would not play on my Treo 650.

One must also consider that as MP3 phones, such as Motorola's ROCKR, become more common, MP3' tones might just settle into a standard. But that is a long way off. So, for now, if you are going to offer your own ring-tones, its best to make them available as MP3's, WAV's and AMR. While these formats won't play on everyones phone, it should allow a good majority of mobile users to install and use your tones.

That is, of course, if they can figure out how to get the ring-tone onto their phone in the first place. This is another barrier to the home-made ring-tone. Most people that have downloaded ring-tones are already used to service providers making it easy. Some companies have specially designed WAP or XHTML-MP websites that can be accessed via ones mobile device. This was my first experience downloading a ring-tone and it was nice in that it allowed me to download the tones directly into my phone via my mobile web browser. Other PC-Web based companies send an SMS to your phone with a link that automatically downloads the tone. Other, even more sophisticated companies will even send you the ring-tone over SMS/MMS. The SMS option has been popular in Europe for some time now and is just beginning to take off here in the United States. This is the way the networks like to do things. Being that they control the roads for access, the networks make money on the data-traffic needed to download the tones as well as get a cut for handling the billing. As San-Franscico activist and creator of Riot.tones Evan Henshaw Plath put it "cell phone service providers operate their networks as closed systems exercising complete control over customer access to content... Nothing goes in or out without the carrier taking its cut."

For the political campaign, non-for profit or individual activist, therefore, distribution of self made ring-tones is burdensome let alone costly and time consuming. But there are some alternatives

Here are four do-it-yourself solutions.

The first way is the most basic way but also requires a bit of mobile tech-savyness. One can simply download the ring-tone, email it to his or her self, open the email on their mobile device and download the attachment. This of course assumes that the mobile user has an email enabled phone and knows how to use it. And of course data charges do apply.

A second option is to use MMS (Multimedia Messaging System). Thats right, the same 3G enabled technology that allows you to send pictures and video from one cellphone to another also allows you to send sound files, that is, ring-tones. While this is not an option for political marketers in the sense that it would cost a fortune to send multiple MMS messages to those who wanted it, it does lend itself nicely to the concept of viral campaigning. And of course, data charges apply.

A third option would be to upload the ring-tone to a website and instruct users with mobile web browsers on their phone to visit the link. One should be able to install a ring-tone this way but mobile browser capabilities do vary. One could also send the link as an SMS message as some phones will allow you to access the link directly from a text-message (that's the SS technology being utilized by the commercial industry mentioned above).

Finally, some phones allow a user to connect their mobile device directly to a computer by means of a cable cord or bluetooth for the purposes of file transfer. It may be possible to install a ring-tone that way. I have had some success installing ring-tones on my Treo 650 and Nokia this way.

Between making your political ring-tones "cell-phone compatible" and figuring out ways to allow people to easily install your tones to their phones, it would seem that the use of personal ring-tones for political discourse has some pretty hefty barriers to overcome. Barriers which are for the most part created by the networks but can also be seen as rooted in most of the populations lack of mobile technology know-how. In a country where SMS is just beginning to take hold, these options do seem better left to tech-savy individuals such as your teenage son or daughter.

But have no fear, third party solutions are here (well, sort of).

Companies such as Xingtone aim to make the process of producing your own ring-tones and installing them to your phone as simple as sending an email. The software, available for both Mac and PC, allows users to edit ring-tones from a plethora of sound file types and then produce them into files suitable for mobile device use. The software then allows you to send the ring-tone to your phone using SMS (it uploads the tone and texts you the link). The software is perfect for the individual desiring the ability to custom make ring-tones and send them to his or her phone with ease. However, Xingtone does have some limitations when considering it for political marketing. While Xingtone allows you to choose parts of already established sound-files to convert to mobile friendly sound files (and allows you to cut and paste), it is still incapable of meshing and overlapping sound. This means that if people are looking to, say, place a politicians voice over suitable music, they are still going to have to rely on more semi-profesional sound editing software. Secondly, Xingtone does not produce a finished product on your PC. Once you're done editing your tone the software immediately sends the file to your phone via SMS. It is possible to send the ring-tone from your phone to your PC using the reverse methodology of a lot of the "do-it-yourself" solutions mentioned above...but that, as we have already discussed, is a hassle and a barrier to distribution. Xingtone does allow its customers to open "mStores" where they can distribute and sell ring-tones in personalized stores, but one has to "contact them" if they wish to do so.

Similar to Xingtone's mStores, sans the ring-tone editing software, is JivJiv.com. JIvJiv is entirely dedicated to providing their users with a means to sell or widely distribute homemade ring-tones. Unlike Xingtone's mStores, JivJiv works more like CafePress in that it allows anybody to open their own ring-tone store just by signing up. Once you have your own store all you have to do is upload your ring-tones. For now the only format they accept are MP3s, and then JivJiv takes care of the rest. You can mark up the price as much as you want or even provide the ring-tones for free. The service does however, have its limitations as my boss here at PDF, Micah Sifry, found out when he visited the site. JivJiv does not yet support Verizon. I have also personally experienced trouble receiving the SMS ring-tone on certain phones with certain providers. Both my father and I use Cingular, his Razor received the SMS. My Treo 650 did not. But I have had assurances from their customer support as well as from Billionaires for Bush founder Andrew Boyd (who has worked closely with the company for his Truth is a Virus viral campaign experiment) that they are working out these issues and are willing to work closely with JivJiv users and their concerns..

Riot.tones (mentioned above) is not completed yet but when it is (sometime in the 1st Quarter if 2006) it will offer an open source Web 2.0 approach to personal ring-tone freedom. The web based service, created by Evan Henshaw Plath simplifies the complicated process of editing, converting and transferring MP3 files into file formats supported by cell phones thus allowing activists, not-for-profits and political campaigners / markers the ability to deploy ring-tones into their next political event with ease. Evan is even working on ways to allow "content mixing" in his editing tools which would allow for such effects as sound overlapping and meshes. Riot.Tones also hosts a public directory that allows people to search for ring-tones or download specific ones they were told or seduced to go on to the site and get. There is a lot of hype around awaiting Riot.Tones and what it could mean. Jo Lee, founder of Citizen Speak has a great write up for it on the MobileActive wiki proceedings where she also lays out some interesting possibilities for incorporating ring-tones into political activist activities.

Another site to mention quickly is WAPDIAL. While not necessarily a ring-tone creator, WAPDIAL allows users to record messages for extreme distribution by simply making a phone call to the number provided on the site (for now a 212 NYC number). Dialing into the Asterisk server, one need only follow the directions provided and then speak into the phone when prompted. The recording is then made available online in a variety of sound formats which include MP3, AMR, WML and is even made Podcast friendly. It has some basic editing and sound effect features as well. WAPDIAL also makes it possible to send the recording you just made directly to your phone making WAPDIAL a possible distributor of voice only ring-tones. This lends itself well to the possibility of what I want to call "ring-casts;" the ability to broadcast short political messages as ring-tones on a daily, monthly or whatever schedule. Just think of it, a daily ring-tone from your favorite political thinker or candidate. A powerful tool, especially for candidates of political campaigns.

Then there are also Ringbacks to consider. While not yet ready for customization (or even provided by most networks), Ringbacks allow you to change what the person calling them hears while they wait for you to pick up. So instead of the usual ring you might hear some Bushisms or musings from the characters on the T.V show Family Guy before your friend or colleague picks up the phone... they might be so good that you are mad they picked up the phone and interrupted :-). Verizon is one of the first to start offering the service (but only in select locations). Sprint and Bell have followed suite. The ring you hear on the other end of the phone is completely controlled by the networks so it may take some time for an open ended solution for this to arise. I'm sure it won't take long, however, for the networks to begin allowing people to upload their own ringbacks or make deals with business' who find a commercial appeal with the idea . But the power of controlling what people hear when they call you is perhaps more powerful than what you hear when your phone rings because people are forced to hear it if they want to call you (long hours listening to company advertisements while on hold for customer service come to mind).

While the influence of ring-tones may one day go both ways, political and personal ring-tones still have a long ways to go in terms of getting over the early adaptor hump and colonizing the mobile media mainstream. Either way, the politicalization of ring-tones has the capability of being the next big viral thing, the new bumpersticker electronically communicating personal and political discourses while in the very act of communication itself. Political marketers are already eyeing the mobile medium as a means to attract youth activity. It only makes sense to make ringtones part of the strategy. In the wiki generation where anyone can edit, ring-tones are the next thing to be set free. Mobile technology has set the tone and politics, as a result, gets a new ring to it.

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