Media Release Embargoed until midnight 12th September 2006
When you hear the world calling out P Money...
P Money goes Gold at the annual Mobile Music Awards
Hip-hop legend P Money flew the NZ flag at this year’s Telecom Mobile Music Awards. His track “Keep on Calling”
featuring US artist Akon, achieved Gold status after it was downloaded onto Telecom Mobiles as a Caller Tune and/or Tru
Tone Ringtone more than 6000 times in the past year.
The annual Telecom Mobile Music Awards took place last night at the Metropolis Hotel in Auckland with awards presented
for songs that have achieved Gold and Platinum sales status for downloads as Caller Tunes and Tru Tone Ringtones.
The awards celebrate the number of downloads as either Caller Tunes or Tru Tone Ringtones that an artist has achieved
over the previous 12 months. Just like vinyl and CDs, the sounds of ringing mobile phones now translate into the NZ
Recording Industry equivalent of Gold and Platinum awards for sales of over 5,000 and 10,000 units respectively.
Proving that the appeal of mobile music is not just limited to the younger generation, reggae legends UB40, whose
legendary track “Red Red Wine” received over 6000 downloads, also went Gold. “Beautiful” by Snoop Dogg received Gold for
the second year in a row, proving that Snoop is very much still the Doggfather. Other receiving artists included Chingy,
Gorillaz, Beyonce, Foo Fighters and James Blunt.
Four Platinum awards were presented for tracks that had been downloaded over 10,000 times. These songs represented a
variety of musical genres and featured big name acts such as System of a Down with “BYOB”; Bow Wow (feat Omarion) with
“Let Me Hold You”; Kanye West (feat Jamie Foxx) with “Gold Digger” and “My Humps” from Black Eyed Peas.
“Mobile technology is transforming the way we listen to music, a few years ago platinum sales of ringtones would have
been unheard of,” said Telecom’s General Manager Consumer Marketing, Kevin Bowler.
“These days, the number of Ringtone and Caller Tune downloads are a very valid way to gauge an artists’ success, which
is why we saw a need to acknowledge this by way of the Mobile Music awards”.
Mobile phones are being used more and more as a means for accessing music and to acknowledge this, Telecom and service
provider Mercury Mobility created the Mobile Music awards in 2005.
ENDS