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This final note today . . .

I'll admit I'm sort of a minimalist when it comes to my cell phone. I haven't got any special ringtones, which makes me a bad consumer in the eyes of the wireless industry.

Only about 10 percent of cell phone users buy ringtones today. That is still enough to amount to a $3 billion industry, but according to a Reuters story I saw today, there’s a plan to improve on that.

And it starts with tunes like this ditty.

[ Ringtone: Smoke on the Water, Deep Purple ]

That’s Deep Purple, in case you didn’t recognize it. Turns out classic rock ringtones are one of the fastest-growing segments in the mobile music biz. Verizon even bought the rights to all of Jimi Hendrix’s work.

Sadly, Led Zeppelin has yet to license its catalog.

— Kai Ryssdal

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