Music enthusiasts urged to join Nokia regional ringtones contest

WOULD you like your own composition to be featured in millions of Nokia phones around the world?

You now have the chance as Nokia, the global leader in mobile communications, launches Regional Ringtones, Designed by You, a regional crowd sourcing competition for people to create ringtones that are relevant to their specific regions.

Nokia believes in the importance of a thriving local music culture while providing locally relevant content to its customers around the world. The company prides itself on maintaining this principle and drive over the years, and now Nokia is empowering everyone to have a shot at creating these ringtones for themselves, and giving participants a unique opportunity to have their work featured on millions of Nokia handsets.

"Nokia has been providing locally relevant content for nearly a decade now, so offering ringtones based on music styles and instruments that are specific to a certain region is not new to us. Feedback for the local ringtone offering has been positive, based on us testing those ringtones within the regions they were targeted at," said Henry Daw, from Nokia’s Sound Design team.

Together with Audio Draft, a group that organizes sound design contests and helps companies outsource their audio productions, Nokia introduces the competition in five different regions – China, India, Southeast Asia and Pacific, Middle East and Africa, as well as Latin America.

Each of these regions will have five winning ringtones to be determined by the Nokia Sound Design team, who is looking for ringtones that are first and foremost original and should not resemble the classic Nokia tune. The judging team also wants to hear tones that are upbeat, engaging and exciting and that are not longer than 30 seconds.

“The secret is to be bold and creative,” Henry Daw said.

The winning ringtones will be included in the ringtone selection on certain Nokia phones and their creators will also receive a cash prize of USD 1,500 each.

If you are interested in joining, you may visit the competition website for South East Asia and Pacific and simply register as a user. You may then submit your entry anytime from March 20 to April 17, 2012.

The Nokia Sound Design team will listen to all the entries and will select the winners on April 24. Everyone is also encouraged to visit the competition sites and rate the entries throughout the duration of the contest.

For more information, you may visit http://www.audiodraft.com/contests/nokia/southeastasiapacific