The mobile phone industry is beginning to sing a new tune after the launch of Divine Calling, a mobile ringtone service that offers contemporary Christian music (CCM), gospel and worship music hits. With U.S. Cellular being the first carrier to provide the service to its customers, other carriers are also expected to join throughout the year.
"Mobile music is a new medium for inspiration and praise," said Carolynne Schloeder, president of Faith West. "With Divine Calling we've created a wireless service exclusively for fans of spiritual music."
The selection of tones include many hit songs from the most popular artists including Meant to Live by Switchfoot, More to Life by Stacie Orrico, Show You love by Jars of Clay, Redeemer by Nicole Mullen, and Here I am to Worship by Tim Hughes. Many more tunes will be available from CCM AC, CCM Pop, CCM Rock, Worship and Gospel genres.
CCM and gospel music have grown to create a significant presence in the industry and have gained more popularity than Latin, jazz, classical and soundtrack categories. According to the Gospel Music Association, Christian music took a considerable 7.14 percent of music sales last year.
"A lot of our customers are interested in Christian music, and Divine Calling is the perfect place to find it," said John Cregier, senior director of data services and strategy for U.S. Cellular. "Faith West works with the best names in the industry to deliver some of the most popular Christian music songs out there, giving our customers choices for personalizing their ringtones."
The Divine Calling service will first be offered on the LG VX6000 handset through easyedge(SM), U.S. Cellular’s next generation wireless data service. Ringtones start at $1.49 each and go down with multiple purchases.
