Nokia offering $10,000 for remixing their signature tune

Nokia may update their phones as often as a baby needs clean diapers but there’s one thing that has remained constant right from its inception in 1994 and that’s their signature ringtone. Nokia’s infamous tune is unmistakable and even though it may have undergone slight changes from a mono tune to a polyphonic tune, it’s still the same tune that was created more than a decade ago. With Nokia all set to launch their WP7 devices, they’ve decided that a fresh version of the tune was needed to go with the new handsets which would also distinguish their WP7 devices from existing Symbian handsets. The Finnish Company have started a global campaign called Nokia Tune Remake in which the grand prize is a whopping US $10,000. The five runners up entries will receive $1000 as the consolation prize.

Let your creative hair down

The rules are simple, you take the original tune and remix it and if you’re lucky, you win. Nokia says the tune should be fresh, original and creative but at the same time should be recognizable. The web site includes a rating and ‘Like’ system which I’m guessing Nokia will be keeping a close eye on to see how much interest your tune generates. While the cash prize is a great incentive to show your creative side, the chosen tune will feature in their 2012 lineup of handsets as the default tone, which is a big deal. Imagine millions of people around the world will be using the ringtone that you created. This is also a good publicity move for Nokia as it helps them keep the buzz alive till their new handsets hit the market. The contest ends in 27 days so there’s still plenty of time, but if you hope to get to the top of the charts, you better get cracking now. Chop-chop.

More from News & Analysis

What is the US HIRE Bill and why is India’s $250-billion IT sector worried? Is the internet dead? What's this theory that OpenAI's Sam Altman says might be true?