S01E12: What is the Ringtone Genre? (Spotify’s 4th popular genre of 2018)

2018 has come to a close and it’s interesting to look back on the previous years music trends. EMO Rap (of course Lil Peep, X, ITSOKTOCRY) was literally the most explosive and listened to genre of the year, followed by lo-fi beats, Deep Talent Show (which is music sung by artists from America’s Got Talent and the like shows), Ringtone and Brazilian Brega Funk.

Wait Ringtone? What the f is ringtone? The 4th most popular genre on spotify in 2018?

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What the is the Ringtone Genre?

2018 has come to a close and it’s interesting to look back on the previous years music trends. EMO Rap (of course Lil Peep, X, ITSOKTOCRY) was literally the most explosive and listened to genre of the year, followed by lo-fi beats, Deep Talent Show (which is music sung by artists from America’s Got Talent and the like shows), Ringtone and Brazilian Brega Funk.

Kind of a funny year when Emo Rap, lo-fi bears are higher then a genre like Got Talent shows are in the top.

Wait Ringtone? What the f is ringtone? The 4th most popular genre on spotify in 2018?

How you didn’t hear of this obscure genre is probably because it’s not even genre it’s just clips, usually between 1 minute to 30 seconds.

Looking at what Spotify has put together in a self-generated playlist titled “The Sounds of Ringtone” we’re pretty much presented with what would have been popular in the age of flip-phones as much to annoy your family to when you recieved a call.

That’s about it, just music that’s sliced down into what would be a ringtone. What’s strange to me is there’s no legit way set a song as a ringtone on your iPhone or Android device. Although upon further looks there’s a software called noteburner that allows you to do such, I haven’t tested it, don’t know anything about it. Don’t recommend it.

What’s weird is there’s barely any kind of information on this “genre” which really makes me scratch my head on why this even exists.

So does this mean there’s people out there listening to 30 second clips of their favorite songs or sounds that remind them of the good old days of razers? I don’t think so, so I did some digging.

Looking through the playlist the artists seem to be a bunch of “ringtone” makers… Grab a random artist and you’ll see most barely have 1000 listens. Meaning at the moment spotify is getting attacked and bloated with who ever has the rights to make these ringtones and because of that it artifically increasing a fake genre.

Now don’t get me wrong, who wouldn’t want comical ringtones like JAck Frost Nipping at my balls or Pull my Finger on loops. And when your song calls the sound of “Triceratops Dinosaurs” playing. Even popular hits like the Harry Potter Theme, Benny Hill or even poor midi versions of Star Wars.

How spotify lets this explode on their platform is beyond me. At one point I thought it was amazing that this podcast was accepted on Spotify or when I find an indie artist’s bandcamp and they also happen to be on Spotify.

But at the same time this might be part of why Spotify can better platform vs Apple Radio or the likes because anyone can really get their music on to this platform and reach a larger audience.

Just when an entire genre is generated and promoted by spotify under the pretense of this is literally a ringtone, it makes you scratch your head.

At least now if we ever get that nostalgic feeling for flip-phone, jelly bean skate parks and American Idol we can revisit those days with the Every Time We Touch #1 (Remix) by Ultimate Ringtone Hits.

Thinking about it, I wasn’t really that big on ringtones when they were popular. I probably at one point had white and nerdy but that was probably it. I didn’t want to get in trouble in school.

What i did do which is even more annoying was record stupid skits with my friends as voicemails. Or record an entire funny sketch from some TV show and make my parents listen to it every time I didn’t answer the phone. Oh the good old days.

I wonder what other obscure random genres are looming in the depths of Spotify servers. If you know any hit me up on social media and maybe I’ll do an epsiode about it. haha.

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