[August 31, 2004] Music Tones From 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin' Album Go 'Gold' on Sprint OVERLAND PARK, Kan., Aug. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Music Tones, ringers created from excerpts of an artist's actual recordings, are an increasingly popular way for wireless phone users to personalize their handsets. Today Sprint announced that ringers from 50 Cent's Shady/Aftermath/Interscope album Get Rich or Die Tryin', including "21 Questions" and "In Da Club," have gone "gold" by selling more than 500,000 downloads to Sprint PCS Vision(SM) customers since becoming available less than six months ago. 50 Cent is one of Universal's best-selling artists. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20001013/SPRINTLOGO ) "The excitement around 50 Cent's Music Tones has been remarkable," said Jeff Hallock, vice president -- Consumer Product Marketing, Sprint. "The availability of artists' actual recordings in ringers allows customers to personalize their wireless device in ways that truly express their tastes, style and independence. The fact that ringers are going 'gold' by music industry standards shows not only their popularity, but also the strong demand for personalization." Sprint was the first U.S. carrier to offer ringers that sound like actual songs with the introduction of Music Tones in July 2003. Sprint offers a wide range of ringers including Music Tones, polyphonic, animated and voice ringers. Universal Music Group works with Sprint to identify, create and launch the categories of Music Tones for wireless users. In 2003, Sprint sold more than 20 million ringers and screen savers on its Sprint PCS Vision service. Sprint PCS Vision customers can purchase and download ringers directly from their Sprint PCS Vision Phones or at http://www.sprintpcs.com/ . To access ringers on the phone, select Menu/ Downloads/ Ringers and Get New. From there, customers can browse the more than one thousand titles available from Sprint. Sprint leads the industry in adoption of advanced wireless data services. Sprint PCS Vision includes services that allow customers to take and receive pictures from select Sprint PCS Phones; browse the Internet at speeds faster than most dial-up connections; check personal and corporate e-mail; watch clips and stream audio for news and music; and download polyphonic, animated and voice ringers and full-color, graphically rich games and screen savers, all on the enhanced Sprint Nationwide PCS Network. About Sprint Sprint is a global integrated communications provider serving more than 26 million customers in over 100 countries. With more than $26 billion in annual revenues in 2003, Sprint is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying state-of-the-art network technologies, including the United States' first nationwide all-digital, fiber-optic network and an award- winning Tier 1 Internet backbone. Sprint provides local communications services in 39 states and the District of Columbia and operates the largest 100-percent digital, nationwide PCS wireless network in the United States. For more information, visit http://www.sprint.com/ . Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20001013/SPRINTLOGOAP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/PRN Photo Desk, [email protected] Sprint CONTACT: Kathleen Dunleavy of Sprint, +1-212-450-9629, [email protected] ; or Peter LoFrumento of Universal MusicGroup, +1-212-331-2585, or [email protected] Web site: http://www.sprint.com/http://www.sprintpcs.com/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]