Crazy Frog ringtone outsells Coldplay
By Gerard Seenan

One song hails from an album that took years to craft and perfect, the delays in its conception seriously denting profits for EMI as fans across the world awaited its release. The other was obviously whipped up in a matter of minutes by a dodgy German dance act with an 80s record collection and a sampler.

Nevertheless, following the cliche that there is no accounting for taste, the Crazy Frog ringtone appears to be jumping over Coldplay's Speed of Sound towards this week's number one spot.

Anyone who has watched a commercial television channel over the last few weeks can hardly have failed to be assaulted by adverts for the hideously annoying Jamster Crazy Frog ringtone.

Not content, however, with having the thing on their mobiles, it appears droves of people - a predicted 150,000 this week alone - want Crazy Frog in their CD players too, and the tune is set to become the first mobile ringtone to make it to the top of the charts.

Record shops yesterday reported that the single by German band Bass Bumpers, which mixes the ringtone with Axel F, Harold Faltermeyer's theme tune from the film Beverley Hills Cop, is outselling Coldplay by a margin of around four to one.

HMV spokesman Gennaro Castaldo said: "Given the amount of exposure and advertising Crazy Frog has had, it shouldn't be that surprising that it's heading for number one. The only real issue is whether the record label can press enough copies to meet demand.

"Although it would have been nice to get to number one, it is not the end of the world for Coldplay, as most of their sales will come when the album is released on June 6," he added.