German band Super Smart have released their new album only on ringtones:

Super Smart have turned their backs on vinyl and CDs and instead have decided to just release their album as ringtones.

The album, Panda Babies, is published by a German company that focuses on digital music for mobile phones.

"Music has to be re-thought," said Antonio Vince Staybl, founder of the Go Fresh Mobile Music label.



The identity of the four-piece from Munich is shrouded in mystery and in photos they appear with giant panda heads.

Super Smart say this is because they want to avoid interference from the major labels, but it is no doubt a useful gimmick to attract media attention.

...."We release songs within a few hours across Europe without interfaces to the traditional music industry," said Toni Werner Montana of GoFresh Europe.

"Our prices for a ringtone album or a compilation of 10 to 12 tracks including a mobile phone video will settle down at four to five euros and the price for a single ringtone at 1.49 euro (99 pence) in the medium-term."

GoFresh already signed up 20 artists and last month said it has sold a million ringtones in just under a year of operation. [BBC]

It's a brave new world and experimentation with distribution is all to the good. I still have a hard time getting enthusiastic about listening to music over the phone, however.