September 8, 2005, Delhi – For those music lovers who have longed to know just where their favourite song(s) exist in the collective consciousness of the world at large, and no way of ever knowing just how many people rock to their personal anthem, there is now good news. Sony Ericsson is compiling ‘The Walkman phones 100’ - the first soundtrack of the world’s favourite songs of all time, to coincide with the launch of its new family of Walkman phones. Sony Ericsson is asking people across the world about their favourite music: the tracks that truly epitomise their own personal soundtrack to their life.
Music lovers from across the globe can log onto www.walkmanphones100.com and register their top three tracks of all time with the reasons why these songs make up the soundtrack to their life. Additionally they can also immediately see where their songs are placed in the overall poll, and whether or not their favorites have yet reached the top 100. Having registered their three songs, voters will also have the chance to win the ultimate collectable item for any music lover; one of the new Walkman phones complete with the world’s 100 favourite songs, as voted for by music fans worldwide on www.walkmanphones100.com . Further, Sony Ericsson will be giving lucky runners-up a member of its new family of Walkman phones, which includes the newly launched W800i.
Speaking about this global initiative by Sony Ericsson Mr. Miles Flint, President Sony Ericsson, said, “We are incredibly excited to be introducing the first Walkman mobile phone to the market. The Sony Ericsson W800 is the first of a family of Walkman phones, which are designed to bring a complete music proposition to the consumer. To mark this occasion we have now launched The Walkman Phones 100. Now consumers worldwide can vote for their favourite music and help compile the first ever poll of the worlds top 100 songs.”
Mr. Sudhin Mathur, GM, Sony Ericsson AB India branch added, “ We at Sony Ericsson have identified music as the future of mobile telephony in India. The Walkman phones 100 provides us with a platform to connect with our consumers and understand their music preferences. This initiative and the recent launch of the W800i, the first from our WALKMAN series of mobiles, are all in sync with our overall strategy to offer the consumers music-enabled handsets. We have witnessed an amazing response to Walkman phones 100 in India which is reflective of music being an universal medium, and we are eagerly awaiting the results.”
The poll has come up with some interesting revelations till now. There are usual associations with the reasons attached to a favourite song, accounted for by demographic and socio-cultural variances. In a total of close to ninety thousand votes polled globally, the No. 1 song so far is “Smells like teen spirit” by the grunge band Nirvana. Nirvana lovers in India will have to gear up and garner support since the No. 1 song in India is the Eagles anthem “Hotel California”. The track is currently No. 2 worldwide so Indian music aficionados are really not that far off the mark. Just goes on to prove that the language of good music has a universal appeal. It also appears that serenading from rooftops is not just a Bollywood tradition, with “music for love” being the top reason for selection of the favourite song in India, and not surprisingly the least popular reason is “ Wedding Dance”.
The site www.walkmanphones100.com is powered by Lycos, one of the leading European Internet destinations with more than 20 million users visiting the site each month. The link went live from August 12th for six weeks. The results of ‘The Walkman phones 100’ global vote will be released worldwide on the September 28th, 2005.