Festive season has a whole new tone
By Jonathan Lambeth

ROBBIE Williams and Nicole Kidman may be hot favourites for the Christmas number one slot but the battle is still on to be the nation's favourite mobile ring tone.

They may be incredibly irritating to anyone in their vicinity but mobile ring tones have been the one success story in the nascent mobile commerce market, with an estimated 60pc of people customising their phone's ring. A number of websites have sprung up to sell for £2 the latest chart hit or 1960s classic specially for your mobile.

Ringtones.co.uk, which has 1.2m sales so far this year, has been keeping count of this year's poptastic favourites. With just one week to go, it is Jamaican Ragga star Shaggy that is on the top of its chart for the whole of 2001 with his comic track It Wasn't Me. Controversial rap artist Eminem is second in Ringtone's chart with his song Stan. In third slot it is the perennial Kylie Minogue with the all-too appropriately named Can't Get You Out Of My Head.

In the overall listings, though, there are a number of all-time favourites that never get displaced. The theme tune from television and film series Mission Impossible just has the edge over The Great Escape theme, followed by Self Preservation Society from The Italian Job.

Andy Mills, managing director of Ringtones, said: "These are very recognisable tunes whereas most people would never have heard of a lot of the Top 20. Pop tunes also appeal more to a teen audience but film soundtracks capture the 20- and 30-something market."

Classical tunes sell poorly but rival ring tone service Iobox.com has its own seasonal chart of the top Christmas tunes for those wanting that festive feeling. Leading the way - of course - is Rudolph and his red nose, closely followed by Frosty The Snowman, with Winter Wonderland behind them.