Plenty to smile about ... Songwriters Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson stand to make a fortune from the release of Abba's back catalogue as ringtones. Photograph: Chad Rachman/AP
A deal to make Abba's catalogue available as ringtones shouldn't exactly be headline news, but their record company, Universal, considered it splashy enough to announce on Easter Monday. This potential new "revenue stream" probably has the label's accounts department squealing in anticipation, but the average adolescent ringtone buyer - who probably discovered Abba through Madonna's Hung Up single, which sampled Gimme, Gimme, Gimme (a Man After Midnight) - will wonder what the fuss is about. Isn't every piece of music already downloadable as a ringtone, ripe for annoying everyone within 10 yards?
Actually, no. There are some significant ring-refuseniks among artists, including the Beatles (though that will change now that Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono have agreed to put the catalogue online) and, surprisingly, the Arctic Monkeys.
The latter have a laudable way of not putting profit first, as witnessed by their decision to release an EP next week that's ineligible for the chart, and they're presumably applying the same principles to ringtones. It could be that they feel that their songs would be trivialised if broken down into four-second squawks of "What a scummy man/ Give him half a chance, I'll bet he'll rob you if he can." Or, who knows, maybe they just think that phones should ring, not sing.
Their attitude is all the more admirable because they of all bands know the power and reach of the digital revolution. Their practice of making their first recordings available for free on the internet created the groundswell that got them where they are today. So they can hardly be accused of not understanding exactly what it is they're turning down.
But back to Abba, or rather, to songwriters Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson. Apparently, it was the advent of polyphonic technology that persuaded them to put their iconic catalogue out there. Reassured that the songs' clarity would be retained, they struck the deal that will add several additional millions to their coffers. And now your repose on the bus or train can be shattered by Dancing Queen or Fernando - a better class of ring, if no less irritating than the Crazy Frog.
