The new management team of Nokia Corp. has not only destroyed MeeGo, Symbian and sales of currently available handsets, but it also intends to kill the world’s most listened melody: the Nokia Tune. The phone maker has announced competition under which it will consider new Nokia ring tones.

The Nokia tune is a phrase from a composition known as Grande Valse for solo guitar, which was composed from Francisco Tárrega in 1902. The tune, which Nokia claims to be the first identifiable musical tune on a mobile phone first appeared in the Nokia 2100 back in 1994. The ring tone sounds worldwide around 1.8 billion times per day, or approximately 20 000 times per second. The tune is the world’s most popular music sample.

For the first time ever, Nokia – together with AudioDraft – is asking musicians to create the next Nokia ring tone within select phones of Nokia’s 2012 product portfolio. This means that the winning entry will be made available on some 100 million devices and also be obtainable from Ovi Store. The winner will get $10 000 prize.

In order to participate, one should register himself over at http://nokiatune.audiodraft.com to submit your entry. Otherwise, you can also just help other people win by casting a vote against your favourite submission. Entries must be submitted by October 2, 2011.

The five most voted for entries will qualify automatically as finalists, where a panel of judges will pick further five entries for the finals and then make the deciding vote on who shall win the top prize of $10 000. Five runner-ups will also have their Nokia Tune available for download from Ovi store and be awarded with $1000 each. The jury is made up of some of the most respected names in the audio branding industry.

While a new melody for Nokia mobile phones developed by independent musicians is an interesting thing, it should be noted that the Nokia Tune is more than a ringtone, it is the sign of Nokia. The mobile phones from the Finnish maker are unimaginable without the ringtone. However, it looks like the new management of Nokia is not afraid of making controversial changes.

Tags: Nokia, Symbian, Windows Phone