Justin Timberlake on the line...

Every time I call my friend Jasmine, we both get a little bit of entertainment. She gets to hear a song instead of a ring, and I get to hear what's called a "ringback" -- instead of me hearing the sound of the phone ringing, I hear a song of her choosing.

While ringbacks are relatively new, personalized ringtones aren't. The first time I heard a song from the new Justin Timberlake was when I called Jasmine. I listened to a rap artist when calling another friend. Jasmine's mother called yesterday while we were together, and I heard another song.

Maybe this isn't necessarily advertainment and it's more viral than anything else, because the release of ringtones and ringbacks is done via word of mouth, but it's definitely a form of advertising a new album while getting the consumers to pay for that brief moment of entertainment when receiving a phone call.

Interestingly enough, this article (linked obtained from AdWeek) questions whether or not the trend is slowing down. Whether it's because the original users are getting older and don't want the embarassment, as mentioned in the article, or if it's because it's too common and cliche now to have a song as a ringtone, less and less people are using -- and buying -- the personalized ringtone.

Me? I don't have a personalized ringtone; my phone is on vibrate more than anything else. And on the occasion it's not, I'm a fan of the standard-issue tones. But you can bet that as soon as there's a ringtone of my favorite Duran Duran song, I'll jump right on that trend.... a few years after after one else!