Sonera zed Brings ASCAP Ringtones to Mobile Phones

The only thing more irritating than listening to someone else's cell phone ringing incessantly is not being able to tell whether it's actually your phone creating the noise pollution. Being able to have your phone fire off the opening notes of, say, God Save the Queen (the national anthem, Sex Pistols, or Robert Fripp rendition) could at least let you know that the beeping is originating from your briefcase. Sonera zed U.S. Inc., thinks that you should be able to march to the beat of whatever drummer you choose and just announced that it has expanded its existing licensed ringtones offering by partnering with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), the world's largest music performing rights organization. The agreement with ASCAP authorizes zed to publicly perform, by way of mobile ringtones, any of the more than seven million copyrighted works in the ASCAP repertory. Fees paid to ASCAP are distributed in the form of royalties to those ASCAP writer and publisher members whose works are featured in zed's ringtones. Zed's collection of licensed ringtones includes pop, alternative, hip-hop, rap, and other popular music songs and is delivered to their audience's mobile phones for under a dollar.