'Ring Back Tones' New Mobile Marketing Medium

As part of the "advertising is everywhere" trend, the ubiquitous telephone ring, not the one you hear when your phone rings but the one your hear in your ear when you make a call, is becoming an ad medium. Dubbed "ring back tones," mobile phone companies are jumping on this and offering music, celebrity greetings and jokes to amuse callers as they wait for the phone to be answered.

Record companies are jumping on board too, taking advantage of the ring time to offer clips of songs and earn royalties while doing so. It may not be long before cell phone companies begin offering reduced or free phone service in exchange for consumers listening to ads, instead of rings, while they wait for their call to be picked up.