This weekend's singles chart proved one thing: Pointless, slimy and irritating sells thousands of records. But enough about Coldplay - the chart was actually topped by ringtone king Crazy Frog. An intensely annoying, half-naked, motorcycle-riding frog who deserves to be sent to the lowest circle of hell is the most popular record of the week.
Despite the comedy factor in these shenanigans, it does show one important thing: the power of ringtones.
Go into any school and you're likely to hear Crazy Frog - or one of his irritating siblings - ringing out across the playground.
Switch on to any of the digital music channels on your TV and you'll see a stream of advertising for ringtones. The other day I even saw Crazy Frog being advertised in the break during Coronation Street - usually the most expensive piece of on-screen real estate that British television has.
It all points to one thing: big money.
As Hugh Muir writes in the Guardian today:
The ringtone was originally the idea of Daniel Malmedahl, a computer salesman from Gothenburg, whose impersonation of a two-stroke motor scooter reduced his friends to tears of laughter. It was posted on a website where it was discovered by another Swede, Erik Wernquist, a 3D graphics designer, who drew a cartoon to match the sound.
His blue frog with prominent belly button and 1950s-style crash helmet was picked up by ringtone company Jamster and heavily promoted by the company across all mediums. Jamster has made more than £10m from people downloading Crazy Frog ringtones.
That's big cash for what is basically an advertising-concocted phenomenon.
But it taps into the fact that many people, and especially youngsters, are now relating to their phones. The mobile is now part of their identity - and it can be used for individualisation or for identifying with a crowd. I see an increasing number of younger people wearing their phones around their necks like pendants (much more normal in Japan), and the figures show that an increasing proportion of kids have phones.
Perhaps Crazy Frog is simply proof that the mobile has now become the dominant item of lifestyle technology.
