Ringtones all abuzz

You know all of those ringtones you keep downloading? Well, they’re paying off—at least for the artists. The Recording Industry Association of America just altered its 47-year-old gold and platinum program used to honor musicians’ success in selling albums to include cell phone ringtones. The tones must be the original recording of the song—as opposed to synthesized monotone or polyphonic tones. The designations are given based on the number of downloads, with gold at 500,000, platinum at 1 million and multi-platinum at 2 million. Here’s a sample of the first crop of award-winning ringtones:

Multi-platinum:

“I’m N Luv (Wit a Stripper)” ­ T-Pain

“Laffy Taffy” ­ D4L

“My Humps” ­ Black Eyed Peas

“Ridin’” ­ Chamillionaire

Platinum:

“Back In Black” ­AC/DC

“Hollaback Girl” ­ Gwen Stefani

“Let Me Hold You” ­ Bow Wow

“We Belong Together” ­ Mariah Carey

Gold:

“Because I Got High” ­ Afroman

“Between the Sheets” ­ The Isley Brothers

“Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” ­ Cyndi Lauper

“Let’s Get It On” ­ Marvin Gaye

View the complete list at www.riaa.com/news/newsletter/061406.asp