Zingy Mobile Content from Timbaland, Kanye, Aaliyah

Zingy, a mobile content distributor, is making lots of deals with hip hop artists and the announcement of a partnership with MTV to produce what is described as a Timbaland "ringtone album" is a particularly big coup.  However, the list of types of mobile content that Timbaland will create does not really explain how this is an album.  Zingy's COO Andy Volanakis says that, "you're going to hear it on mobile [phones] before you hear it on the radio".

So will these basically be promo pieces for Timbaland's next album?  If so, calling a collection of "original beats for polyphonic and master ringtones, voice ringtones, voice ringback tones, voicemail greetings, screensavers and wallpapers" a ringtone album is kind of bizarre.  Along with BlingTones' claim to be a "wireless label", the use of such terms because they're familiar is annoying at best and misleading at worst.  On the other hand, if Timbaland rose to the occasion and delivered a conceptually and/or thematically connected group of products one could begin the argument for a distributed album, of sorts.  But with Timbaland mobile content retailing  between $1.49 to $2.99 per download, this is starting to strike me as the shortest and, possibly, the most expensive album per second to ever be released.

In any case, Zingy is busy with recent agreements made with Kanye West as well as mobile content created from an unreleased version of Ave Maria by Aaliyah.  Some of the proceeds from the Aaliyah material will benefit the Aaliyah Memorial Fund, a non-profit that supports Alzheimer's, AIDS and breast cancer research.