The Ringtone Dialectic: Economy and Cultural Form

by Sumanth Gopinath and Sumanth S. Gopinath

The rise and fall of the ringtone industry and its effect on mobile entertainment, music, television, film, and politics.

A decade ago, the customizable ringtone was ubiquitous. Almost any crowd of cell phone owners could produce a carillon of tinkly, beeping, synthy, musicalized ringer signals. Ringtones quickly became a multi-billion-dollar global industry and almost as quickly faded away. In The Ringtone Dialectic, Sumanth...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0262019159
• ISBN13: 9780262019156
• Release Date: January 2013
• Publisher: MIT Press
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.3" x 9.1"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher