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Background[link]

A phone “rings” when its network indicates an incoming call and the phone thus alerts the user. For landline telephones, the call signal can be an electric current generated by the switch or exchange to which the telephone is connected. For mobile phones, the network sends the phone a message indicating an incoming call.

A telephone “ring” is the sound generated when there is an incoming telephone call. The term originated from the fact that telephones originally had a ringing mechanism consisting of bells and an electromagnetically-driven clapper, producing a ringing sound. The aforementioned electrical signal powered the electromagnets which would rapidly move and release the clapper, striking the bells. This electromagnetic bell system is still in widespread use. The ringing signal sent to a customer's telephone is 90 volts AC at a frequency of 20 hertz in North America. In Europe it is around 60-90 volts AC at a frequency of 25 hertz. Some non-Bell system party lines in the US used multiple frequencies (20/30/40Hz, 22/33/44 Hz, etc.) to allow "selective" ringing.

In Australia the ring signal averages 100 V AC at 25 Hz.^[1]

While the sound produced is still called a “ring”, more-recently manufactured telephones electronically produce a warbling, chirping, or other sound. Variation of the ring signal can be used to indicate characteristics of incoming calls (for example, rings with a shorter interval between them might be used to signal a call from a given number).

A ringing signal is an electric telephony signal that causes a telephone to alert the user to an incoming call. On a POTS interface, this signal is created by superimposing ringing voltage [90 volts AC at 20 Hz in the USA] atop the -48VDC already on the line. This is done at the Central Office, or a neighborhood multiplexer called a "SLC" for Subscriber Line Carrier. (SLC is a trademark of Alcatel-Lucent, but is a term often used generically.]

This ring voltage came from various sources. In large Central Offices, there were 48VDC motor-driven generator sets for both ringing & other signals such as dial tone and busy signals. In smaller offices, a special Sub-Cycle magnetic oscillator was used. More recently, solid-state oscillators have replaced them.

In old phones, this voltage was used to trigger a high-impedance electromagnet to ring a bell on the phone. Fixed phones of the late 20th century and later detect this ringing current voltage and trigger a warbling tone electronically. Mobile phones are fully digital, hence are signaled to ring as part of the protocol they use to communicate with the cell base stations.

In POTS switching systems, ringing is said to be "tripped" when the impedance of the line reduces to about 600 ohms when the telephone handset is lifted off the switch-hook. This signals that the telephone call has been answered, and the telephone exchange immediately removes the ringing signal from the line and connects the call. This is the source of the name of the problem called "ring-trip" or "pre-trip", which occurs when the ringing signal on the line encounters excessively low resistance between the conductors, which trips the ring before the subscriber's actual telephone has a chance to ring (for more than a very short time); this is common with wet connections and improperly installed lines.

Early research showed that people would wait until the phone stopped ringing before picking it up.^{[citation needed]} Breaks were introduced into the signal to avoid this problem, resulting in the common ring-pause-ring cadence pattern used today. In early party line systems this pattern was a Morse code letter indicating who should pick up the phone, but today, with individual lines, the only surviving patterns are a single ring and double-ring, originally Morse code letters T (dash) and M (dash dash).^{[clarification needed]}

The ringing pattern is known as ring cadence. This only applies to POTS fixed phones, where the high voltage ring signal is switched on and off to create the ringing pattern. In North America, the standard ring cadence is "2-4", or two seconds of ringing followed by four seconds of silence. In Australia and the UK, the standard ring cadence is 400 ms on, 200 ms off, 400 ms on, 2000 ms off. These patterns may vary from region to region, and other patterns are used in different countries around the world.

A service akin to party line ringing is making a comeback in some small office and home office situations allowing facsimile machines and telephones to share the same line but have different telephone numbers; this CLASS feature is usually called distinctive ringing generically, though carriers assign it trademarked names such as "Smart Ring", "Duet", "Multiple Number", "Ident-a-Call", and "Ringmaster." This feature is also used for a second phone number assigned to the same physical line for roommates or teenagers, in which case it is sometimes marketed under the name "teen line".

Caller ID signals are sent during the silent interval between the first and second bursts of the ringing signals.

The interrupted ring signal was designed to attract attention and studies showed that an intermittent two tone ring was the easiest to hear.^{[citation needed]} This had nothing to do with the coded ringing that was used on party lines.

History[link]

AT&T offered seven different gong combinations for the "C" type ringer found in the model 500 and 2500 landline telephone sets. These gongs provided "distinctive tones" for hearing-impaired customers and to make it possible to tell which phone was ringing when several phones were placed closely together.^[2] A "Bell Chime" was also offered, which could be set to chime like a doorbell or to ring like an ordinary phone.

Following a 1975 FCC ruling which permitted third-party devices to be connected to phone lines, manufacturers began to produce accessory telephone ringers which rang with electronic tones or melodies rather than mechanically. People also made their own ringers which used the chip from a musical greeting card to play a melody on the arrival of a call.^[3] One such ringer, described in a 1989 book, even features a toy dog which barks and wags its tail when a call arrives.^[4] Eventually, electronic telephone ringers became the norm. Some of these ringers produced a single tone, but others produced a sequence of two or three tones or a musical melody.^[5]

The first commercial mobile phone with customizable ring tones was the Japanese NTT DoCoMo Digital Mova N103 Hyper by NEC, released in May 1996.^[6] It had a few preset songs in MIDI format. In September 1996, IDO, the current au, sold Digital Minimo D319 by Denso. It was the first mobile phone where a user could input an original melody, rather than the preset songs. These phones proved to be popular in Japan: a book^[7] published in 1998 providing details about how to customize phones to play snippets of popular songs sold more than 3.5 million copies.

The first downloadable mobile ring tone service was created and delivered in Finland in autumn 1998 when Radiolinja (a Finnish mobile operator now known as Elisa) started their service called Harmonium, invented by Vesa-Matti Pananen.^[8] Harmonium contained both tools for individuals to create monophonic ring tones and a mechanism to deliver them over-the-air (OTA) via SMS to a mobile handset. On November 1998, Digitalphone Groupe (SoftBank Mobile) started a similar service in Japan.

Ringtone makers[link]

A ring tone maker allows a user to take a song from their personal music collection, select whatever section they like and send the file to their mobile phone. Files can be sent to the mobile phone by direct connection (e.g., USB cable), Bluetooth, text messaging, or e-mail.

The earliest ringtone maker was Harmonium, developed by Vesa-Matti Paananen, a Finnish computer programmer, and released in 1997 for use with Nokia smart messaging.^[9][10]

Some providers allow users to create their own music tones, either with a "melody composer" or a sample/loop arranger (such as the MusicDJ in many Sony Ericsson phones). These often use encoding formats only available to one particular phone model or brand. Other formats, such as MIDI or MP3, are often supported; they must be downloaded to the phone before they can be used as a normal ring tone.

When someone buys a ringtone, an aggregator (company that sells ringtones) either creates their own tune or mixes together a pre-existing one. After the ringtone is created, it is put into a unique file format and sent to the person’s phone via SMS. If the company uses a pre-existing song, they must pay royalties to the person who owns the song. The owner of the song doesn’t get all of the money; a significant portion is given to the cell phone provider.^[11]

In 2005 "SmashTheTones" (now "Mobile17"), became the first third-party solution to allow ring tone creation online without requiring downloadable software or a digital audio editor. Later, Apple’s iPhone allowed users to create a ringtone from any song purchased for the phone’s iTunes library^[12] but with some difficulties, including a 40-second limit, and the fact the file has to be an AAC format and whose name ended with the extension .m4r.

There are a variety of websites that let users make ring tones from digital music or other sound files; they upload directly to their mobile phone with no limit on the number of songs uploaded.

Ringtone business[link]

The fact that consumers are willing to pay up to $3 for ringtones has made "mobile music" a particularly profitable part of the music industry.^[13] Estimates vary: the Manhattan-based marketing and consulting firm Consect estimated ringtones generated $4 billion in worldwide sales in 2004.^[10] According to Fortune magazine, ring tones generated more than $2 billion in worldwide sales during 2005.^[14] The rise of sound files also contributed to the popularization of ringtones. In 2003 for example, the Japanese ringtone market, which alone was worth US $900 million, experienced US $66.4 million worth of sound file ringtone sales.^[15] Also in 2003, the global ringtone industry was worth somewhere between US $2.5 and US $3.5 billion.^[15] In 2009, the research firm SNL Kagan estimated that sales of ringtones in the United States peaked at $714 million in 2007.^[16] SNL Kagan estimated U.S. sales in 2008 declined to $541 million, due in part to consumers having learned how to create their own ringtones.^[13]

Billing controversies[link]

The ringtone business has prompted controversy about the industry's business practices.

Lawsuits[link]

Jamster [link]

In April 2005, the law firm of Callahan, McCune and Willis filed a class action lawsuit against Jamster! on behalf of a San Diego father and his ten-year-old daughter.^[17] The lawsuit alleges that Jamster! scammed cellular telephone customers through the use of fraudulent and deceptive advertisements. The plaintiffs argue that the ads in question offered one free ring tone to cell phone customers who responded to the ad via text message, but failed to inform users that they would be subscribed to a monthly service.^[18] The lawsuit was combined with four others and settled in November 2009.^[19][20]

Satterfield v. Simon & Schuster [link]

In June, 2007, a ruling (later overturned) was handed down in class action case Satterfield v. Simon & Schuster, No. C 06-2893 CW, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 46325 (N.D. Cal. June 26, 2007), a case involving the transmission of SMS text messages promoting a popular author's "mobile club" to cellular phones, such as the one used by a seven-year-old child. The defendants, the publishing company that contracted for the transmission of the promotional messages and the service provider that actually sent the messages, argued that the named subscriber, the child's mother, had consented to the transmission of promotional messages when, in order to receive a free ringtone, she checked the box in an online form labeled "Yes! I would like to receive promotions from Nextones affiliates and brands…."

Judge Claudia Wilken ruled that the SMS text messages are not covered by the TCPA, first, because the manner in which the SMS messages were sent does not fit the statutory definition of an "automatic telephone dialing system," and second, because the plaintiff had agreed to receive promotional messages under a broadly worded consent provision, executed in connection with the download of a free ringtone. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and reinstated the potentially 90 million dollar lawsuit against publishing giant Simon & Schuster. A settlement was finally approved by Judge Claudia Wilken on August 6, 2010, which should pay out $175 to each class member who files a claim.^[21][22]

Public Utilities Commission complaint[link]

On July 20, 2005, the Utility Consumers' Action Network, a non-profit California consumer advocacy organization, filed a complaint with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) against Cingular Wireless for the unauthorized billing of non-communications related charges, such as ring tones.^[23] UCAN claimed that Cingular billed its customers for Jamster! and other similar ring tone services without providing customers with the notice, opt-in, and proof of authorization requirements necessary for such charges.^[24] UCAN further charged Cingular with violating numerous CPUC requirements by consistently telling customers with questions about non-communications service charges on their wireless phone bill that Cingular has no responsibility and cannot assist customers with their inquiries.^[24][25]

Reactions against ringtones [link]

Etiquette regarding ringtones has been one of the most controversial aspects of cell phone culture. Although often played for aesthetic value to alert a recipient of an incoming call, some individuals around the recipient could consider the ringing noise to be a disturbance. Employers have been known to ban ringtones at work; one Australian company even goes so far as to fine its employees each time their ringtone sounds during a meeting. In another survey of cell-phone owning professionals, 18 percent felt that the worst cell phone etiquette offense was to cycle through a phone's ringtone list, playing them one by one, while riding public transportation.^[26] Another reaction towards the ringtones is that a certain culture has formed through the ringtones. People have started to identify themselves with their selected ringtones just as they did with their selection of mobile phones. "As was the case with those who take the call, musical ringtones are also designed with an eye toward such public space situations, so as to provide a kind of treat to co-present, potentially disturbed, bystanders" (Licoppe 148). People have specified even further what type of person they are not just by choosing a phone, but by alerting everyone around of what kind of music they like to hear. In a way, people are sending a message out to become distinct and stand out from the crowd. However, there is also debate that ringtones are selected to become less noticeable and fit right in with the crowd. "Some users thus deliberately choose their ringtone from a set of shared cultural resources...which they know would be recognized by many people. Such a choice of musical ringtones is oriented toward the way they will be received by copresent parties" (Licoppe 148). Since the tunes are easily recognized, people are more likely to avoid it and not be distracted.^[27]

Types of ring tones [link]

Monophonic

A monophonic ring tone is simply a series of musical notes, one note at a time.

Polyphonic

A polyphonic ring tone can consist of several notes at a time. The first polyphonic ring tones used sequenced recording methods such as MIDI. Such recordings specify what synthetic instrument should play a note at a given time, and the actual instrument sound is dependent upon the playback device. Later, synthesized instruments could be included along with the composition data, which allowed for more varied sounds beyond the built-in sound bank of each phone.

Truetone

A truetone (also known as "realtone", "mastertone", "superphonic ringtone" or "audio recording") is simply an audio recording, typically in a common format such as MP3 or AAC. Truetones, which are often excerpts from songs, have become popular as ring tones. The first truetone service was started by au on December 2002.^[28] "My Gift to You" by Chemistry was the first song to be distributed as a truetone.

Sing tone

A "sing tone" is a ring tone created in karaoke style, combining a user’s recorded voice (adjusted to be both in time and in tune) with a backing track.

Video Ringtone

A video ringtone is a piece of video content used as a ringtone (typically on 3G phones). Any video may be used, but usually music video excerpts are used. The best examples of these use sound and video track that loops seamlessly. It is possible to use personalised video ringtones against contacts in the phone to provide video and audio Caller Identification.

Ring tone encoding formats[link]

See also[link]

• Nokia tune
• Ringback tone
• Ringle (music)
• Teen Buzz

References [link]

External links [link]

Look up ringtone in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Creating your own ring tone from Wired.com
• Ringtones from How Stuff Works
• Ringtone FAQ - Consumer guide to ring tones, from Utility Consumers' Action Network (UCAN)
• New Media Rights - How to make your own cell phone ringtones for free from newmediarights.org, a UCAN project

Mike Gundy
Sport(s)	Football
Current position
Title	Head coach
Team	Oklahoma State
Conference	Big 12
Record	59–30
Annual salary	$3.75 million[1]
Biographical details
Born	(1967-08-12) August 12, 1967 (age 44) Midwest City, Oklahoma
Alma mater	Oklahoma St.
Playing career
1986–1989	Oklahoma State
Position(s)	Quarterback
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1990 1991–1993 1994–1995 1996 1997–2000 2001–2004 2005–present	Oklahoma State (WR) Oklahoma State (QB) Oklahoma State (OC/QB) Baylor (QB) Maryland (WR) Oklahoma State (OC) Oklahoma State
Head coaching record
Overall	59–30
Bowls	4–2
Statistics College Football Data Warehouse
Accomplishments and honors
Championships 1 Big 12 (2011) 1 Big 12 South Division (2010)
Awards Big 12 Coach of the Year (2010) Paul "Bear" Bryant Award (2011) Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year (2011)

Mike Gundy (born August 12, 1967) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head football coach at Oklahoma State University–Stillwater. Gundy played college football Oklahoma State, where he was the Cowboys quarterback from 1986 to 1989. Gundy became Oklahoma State's coach on January 3, 2005. In 2007 he received national media attention for his heated criticism of a newspaper article on one of his players.^[2][3]

Biography[link]

Playing career[link]

At Midwest City High School, Gundy played quarterback, and was voted Oklahoma Player of the Year in 1986.^[4] Gundy was heavily recruited by the Oklahoma Sooners but in the end signed with the Oklahoma State University Cowboys. He became the starting quarterback midway through his freshman year. Gundy would become the all-time leading passer in Oklahoma State and Big 8 Conference history.^[4] In four seasons Gundy threw 49 touchdowns and 7,997 yards, including 2,106 yards in 1987 and 2,163 in 1988.^[4] He led the Cowboys to bowl wins in the 1987 Sun Bowl and 1988 Holiday Bowl aided by two Hall of Fame running backs, Thurman Thomas and Barry Sanders.^[5][6] He also led OSU to two 10-win seasons.

Mike Gundy held the record for most consecutive passes attempted without an interception at the start of a career by a freshman in Division 1 history with 138, until Baylor freshman Robert Griffin III broke it in 2008. Coincidentally, Baylor was playing against Gundy's Oklahoma State team when Griffin surpassed the mark. After the game, Gundy was able to personally congratulate Griffin on the accomplishment.

Coaching career[link]

Early positions[link]

When Gundy graduated, he joined Pat Jones staff as an assistant coach. He was wide receiver coach in 1990, quarterback coach from 1991–1993 and offensive coordinator from 1994–1995.

Gundy was quarterbacks coach/passing game coordinator for Baylor during the 1996 season. He was on staff with Larry Fedora at Baylor and would rekindle that relationship when he became head coach at Oklahoma State, bringing Fedora on as his offensive coordinator. After the season, he moved again, this time to Maryland where he was wide receiver coach and passing game coordinator from 1997–2000 for the Terps.

Oklahoma State[link]

In 2001, the Oklahoma State University head football coach job became vacant when Bob Simmons resigned and a search produced Les Miles and Mike Gundy as the finalists. Miles was hired as head coach and Gundy was brought aboard as offensive coordinator. The team would go on to three straight bowl games in Miles's last three years as head coach and when Miles left in 2004 to take the LSU job, Gundy was named immediately as Miles successor and the 22nd head coach at Oklahoma State.

His first season saw the expulsion of eleven players from the team and the Cowboys struggled to a 4–7 record winning only one Big 12 conference game.

In his second season, the Cowboy offense began to click and the Cowboys would finish 7–6 including a victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide in the Independence Bowl.

In 2007, the Cowboys again posted a 6–6 regular season record and a bowl win over the Indiana Hoosiers in the Insight Bowl. After their second straight bowl appearance, Gundy was rewarded with a contract extension through the 2013 season.^[7]

2007 media controversy[link]

On September 22, 2007, Gundy made comments that became the subject of a nationwide media controversy and generated a viral video. Following his team's victory over the Texas Tech Red Raiders, Gundy criticized an article that was critical of one of his players including the now famous line "Come after me! I'm a man! I'm forty!"^[2][3][8]

Jenni Carlson of The Oklahoman wrote the original article discussing Bobby Reid, the former starting quarterback, and reasons why he might have been demoted to second-string. The OSU coaching staff publicly supported Reid earlier in the year, but later demoted him with no public explanation to the media.^[9] The Oklahoman sports editor, Mike Sherman, also stood by the story.^[10] Mike Griffith, president of the Football Writers Association of America, called Gundy's behavior "completely inappropriate."^[8] CBS Sportsline's Dennis Dodd went further saying, "Mike Gundy needs to be reprimanded, definitely suspended, probably fined and maybe fired."^[11] Some columnists felt the remarks constituted a form of sexism.^[12][9] and the Association for Women in Sports Media said that Gundy handled the situation in an "unprofessional manner."^[8] OSU athletic director Mike Holder stood behind Gundy, saying that "nothing is more important to us than our student-athletes."^[12]

2008 season[link]

In 2008, Gundy led the Oklahoma State Cowboys to their best season in 20 years. They were ranked in the top 15 for most of the season. The season ended with an appearance in the Holiday Bowl, where they lost to Oregon. Gundy was rewarded with a new seven-year contract worth $15.7 million. The contract, which extends through the 2015 season, went into effect on January 1, 2009.^[13]

2009 season[link]

Gundy led the 2009 Cowboys to another solid season. Going into the annual Bedlam game against rival Oklahoma, the Cowboys were 9-2 and poised to secure their first-ever BCS bowl bid and notch only the fourth 10-win season in school history. However, the Cowboys were beaten by Oklahoma 27-0, and went on to lose the Cotton Bowl to Ole Miss.

2010 season[link]

The 2010 Cowboys rolled through the regular season, finishing with a share of the last Big 12 South title (the Big 12 dropped the divisional format after the 2010 season). Along the way, they set numerous records for points scored, as well as total and individual yardage.

With a 48-14 victory over Kansas on November 20, Oklahoma State won 10 regular-season games for the first time ever. It was also only the fourth 10-win season in the school's 111-year football history.

A loss to Oklahoma in the final regular season game kept the Cowboys out of the Big 12 Championship Game. They did, however, rout Arizona in the Alamo Bowl for their school-record 11th win.

2011 season[link]

The Cowboys entered 2011 with their highest expectations since the 1980s. They opened the season ninth in both major polls. Gundy's Cowboys didn't disappoint, starting the season 10-0, the best start in school history. Gundy has had a hand in four of Oklahoma State's six 10-win seasons (two as quarterback, two as head coach). With a 52-45 win over Kansas State, the Cowboys rose to second in the AP Poll and Bowl Championship Series (BCS) rankings, the highest national rankings in school history. On November 18th, Oklahoma State lost to Iowa State in double overtime 37-31, all but dashing their national title hopes, but remained in the BCS hunt with a series of upsets in the following weeks, along with a convincing 44-10 victory over the Oklahoma Sooners on December 3, snapping an eight-game losing streak in the Bedlam rivalry. It was also Gundy's first win over Oklahoma as a player or a coach at Oklahoma State; he'd gone 0-4 while the Cowboys' quarterback.

On December 4, it was announced that Oklahoma State had earned a spot in the 2012 Fiesta Bowl^[14], being barely eclipsed out of the BCS National Championship game by second-place Alabama by the smallest margin between #2 and #3 in BCS history.^[15] Many AP voters hinted that if the Cowboys were to beat Stanford as they did the Sooners, and Alabama upset SEC West rival LSU in the BCS Championship Game, the Cowboys could earn a split title with an AP Poll #1 ranking (this is opposed to the USA Today & Harris Coaches polls which are contractually bound to vote the winner of the BCS title game #1).

The #3 Cowboys beat the #4 Stanford Cardinal 41-38 in the Fiesta Bowl, marking Oklahoma State's first BCS bowl win, and first outright Big 12 Conference title in the same season, though it was not enough to convince voters to give OSU a split title.

Personal[link]

Gundy and his wife, Kristen, have three children, Gavin, Gunnar and Gage.^[4] His brother, Cale Gundy, was a starting quarterback for the University of Oklahoma in the 1990s and is currently the running back coach for the University of Oklahoma.^[16]

Coaching tree[link]

Many current NCAA Head Coaches and Assistants trace their career back to Gundy's coaching tree. Included among those are North Carolina head coach Larry Fedora, West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen and University of Illinois head coach Tim Beckman. All served as assistant coaches under Gundy at Oklahoma State. Gundy, in turn, can trace his career back to the coaching tree of College Football Hall of Fame member Johnny Majors and Woody Hayes through Les Miles.

Head coaching record[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mike Gundy

• Official website
• Oklahoma State profile

Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber at the NRJ Music Awards in Cannes, France in 2012
Background information
Birth name	Justin Drew Bieber[1]
Born	(1994-03-01) March 1, 1994 (age 18)[2] London, Ontario, Canada
Origin	Stratford, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Pop, R&B, teen pop[3][4][5]
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician, actor
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano, percussion,[6] trumpet[7]
Years active	2008–present
Labels	Island, RBMG
Associated acts	Usher, Ludacris
Website	justinbiebermusic.com

Justin Drew Bieber ( /ˈbiːbər/ BEE-bər, born March 1, 1994)^[2] is a Canadian Pop/R&B singer-songwriter, musician, and actor.^[3][5] Bieber was discovered in 2008 by Scooter Braun,^[8] who came across Bieber's videos on YouTube and later became his manager. Braun arranged for him to meet with Usher in Atlanta, Georgia, and Bieber was soon signed to Raymond Braun Media Group (RBMG), a joint venture between Braun and Usher,^[9] and then to a recording contract with Island Records offered by L.A. Reid.^[6][10] Bieber's debut single, "One Time", was released in 2009 and peaked in the top twenty in Canada and charted in the top thirty in several international markets. His debut album, the seven-track EP My World, followed in November 2009, and was soon certified platinum in the United States. He became the first artist to have seven songs from a debut album chart on the Billboard Hot 100.^[11]

Bieber's first full-length studio album, My World 2.0, was released in March 2010. It debuted at number one or within the top ten in several countries and was certified platinum in the United States. It was preceded by the worldwide top-ten single, "Baby". The music video of "Baby" is currently ranked as the most viewed and most discussed YouTube video.^[12] Bieber followed up the release of his debut album with his first headlining tour, the My World Tour, the remix albums My Worlds Acoustic and Never Say Never – The Remixes, and the 3D biopic-concert film Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, that nearly matched the record for the biggest opening weekend gross for a concert-film. Bieber released his second studio album, Under the Mistletoe, in November 2011, which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. Bieber has received numerous awards, including Artist of the Year at the 2010 American Music Awards, and has been nominated for such awards as Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Album at the 53rd Grammy Awards. In 2012, Bieber was named Forbes 3rd most powerful celebrity in the world, earning $55 million. As of May 2012, Bieber has sold 15 million albums.^[13]

Early life[link]

Bieber was born on March 1, 1994, in London, Ontario in St Joseph's Hospital,^[14][15] and was raised in Stratford, Ontario.^[16] Bieber's mother, Patricia Lynn "Pattie" Mallette, was 18 years old when she became pregnant. Mallette, originally from Stratford, raised her son with the help of her parents, Bruce and Diane.^[17] Mallette worked a series of low-paying office jobs, raising Bieber as a single mother in low-income housing. Bieber has maintained contact with his father, Jeremy Jack Bieber, who married another woman and had two children.^[18][19][20] Bieber's great-grandfather was from Germany.^[21] Bieber's mother's ancestry is French Canadian.^[22] Bieber attended a French immersion elementary school in Stratford called Jeanne Sauvé Catholic School.^[17]

During his childhood, Bieber was interested in hockey, soccer, and chess; he often kept his musical aspirations to himself.^[18] As he grew up, Bieber taught himself to play the piano, drums, guitar, and trumpet.^[16][23] In early 2007, when he was twelve, Bieber sang Ne-Yo's "So Sick" for a local singing competition in Stratford and was placed second.^[6][23] Mallette posted a video of the performance on YouTube for their family and friends to see. She continued to upload videos of Bieber singing covers of various R&B songs, and Bieber's popularity on the site grew.^[10] Chris Hicks, Bieber's A&R at Island/Def Jam, explained the young artist's huge online following to HitQuarters by saying:

"He was doing something different. He was an attractive white kid singing very soulful R&B hits. That set him apart immediately from anyone in his range because no one was covering or singing these kind of records. But equally important was that you believed in these songs – it was real. And you wanted to hear more."^[24]

Career[link]

[edit] 2008–09: Discovery and My World

While searching for videos of a different singer, Scooter Braun, a former marketing executive of So So Def, clicked on one of Bieber's 2007 videos by accident.^[18] Impressed, Braun tracked down the theater Bieber was performing in, located Bieber's school, and finally contacted Mallette. Mallette was reluctant because of Braun's Jewish religion; she remembered praying, "God, I gave him to you. You could send me a Christian man, a Christian label! ... you don’t want this Jewish kid to be Justin’s man, do you?"^[18] However, after praying with her church elders and receiving their encouragement, she permitted Braun to fly Bieber, then 13,^[10] to Atlanta, Georgia, to record demo tapes.^[18] A week after arriving, Bieber sang for R&B singer/songwriter Usher.^[25] Bieber was soon signed to Raymond Braun Media Group (RBMG), a joint venture between Braun and Usher.^[9] Justin Timberlake was also reportedly in the running to sign Bieber, but lost the bidding war to Usher.^[9][26] Usher then sought assistance in finding a label home for the artist from then manager Chris Hicks, who helped engineer an audition with his contact Antonio L.A. Reid of Island Def Jam Music Group.^[24] Reid signed Bieber to Island Records in October 2008 (resulting in a joint venture between RBMG and Island Records) and appointed Hicks as executive Vice-President of Def Jam where he would be able manage Bieber's career at the label.^{[6][9][10][24]} At that point, Bieber and his mother moved to Atlanta temporarily, also the home of Usher and Braun, to record and get counseling from Braun.^[9] Braun became Bieber's manager.^[10]

Bieber in September 2009 at the Nintendo World Store

Bieber's first single, "One Time", was released to radio while Bieber was still recording his debut album.^[27] The song reached number 12 on the Canadian Hot 100 during its first week of release in July 2009,^[10] and later peaked at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100. During fall 2009 it had success in international markets.^[28] The song was certified Platinum in Canada and the US and Gold in Australia and New Zealand.^[29][30][31] Bieber's first release, an extended play entitled My World, was released on November 17, 2009. The album's second single, "One Less Lonely Girl", and two promo singles, "Love Me", and "Favorite Girl", were released exclusively on the iTunes store and charted within the top forty of the Billboard Hot 100.^[28] "One Less Lonely Girl" was later also released to radio and peaked within the top fifteen in Canada and the US, being certified Gold in the latter.^[28] My World was eventually certified Platinum in the US and Double Platinum in both Canada and the UK.^[31][32][33] To promote the album, Bieber performed on several live shows such as mtvU's VMA 09 Tour, European program The Dome, YTV's The Next Star, The Today Show,^[34][35] The Wendy Williams Show, Lopez Tonight, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, It's On with Alexa Chung, Good Morning America, Chelsea Lately, and BET's 106 & Park with Rihanna. Bieber also guest starred in an episode of True Jackson, VP in late 2009.^[36]

Bieber performed Stevie Wonder's "Someday at Christmas" for U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama at the White House for Christmas in Washington, which was broadcast on December 20, 2009, on U.S. television broadcaster TNT.^[37] Bieber was also one of the performers at Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest on December 31, 2009.^[38] Bieber was a presenter at the 52nd Grammy Awards on January 31, 2010. He was invited to be a vocalist for the remake of We Are The World (a song written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie) for its 25th anniversary to benefit Haiti after the earthquake. Bieber sings the opening line, which was sung by Lionel Richie in the original version.^[39] On March 12, 2010, a version of K'naan's "Wavin' Flag" recorded by a collective of Canadian musicians known as Young Artists for Haiti was released. Bieber is featured in the song, performing the closing lines.

[edit] 2010–11: My World 2.0 and Never Say Never film

"Baby", the lead single from his debut album, My World 2.0, which features Ludacris, was released in January 2010 and became his biggest hit thus far, charting at number five in the U.S. and reaching the top ten in seven other countries.^[28] Two promo singles "Never Let You Go", and "U Smile" were top thirty hits on the U.S. Hot 100, and top twenty hits in Canada.^[28] According to review aggregator Metacritic, the album has received "generally favorable reviews".^[40] It debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, making Bieber the youngest solo male act to top the chart since Stevie Wonder in 1963.^[41] My World 2.0 also debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart, Irish Albums Chart, Australian Albums Chart, and the New Zealand Albums Chart^[28] and reached the top ten of fifteen other countries.^[42][43] To promote the album, Bieber appeared on several live programs including The View, the 2010 Kids Choice Awards, Nightline, The Late Show with David Letterman, The Dome and 106 and Park.^[44] Bieber collaborated with Sean Kingston on his single "Eenie Meenie" which also appeared on Bieber's debut album. The song reached the top ten in the United Kingdom and Australia, and the top-twenty of most other markets.

Bieber performing at the Conseco Fieldhouse, in August 2010

On April 10, 2010, Bieber was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live.^[45] On July 4, 2010, Bieber performed at the Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular in New York City.^[46] The second single from My World 2.0, "Somebody to Love", was released in April 2010, and a remix was released featuring Bieber's mentor Usher. The single reached number ten in Canada, number fifteen in the United States, and the top twenty in multiple international countries.

On June 23, 2010, Bieber went on his first official headlining tour, the My World Tour, starting in Hartford, Connecticut, to promote My World and My World 2.0.^[47] In July 2010, it was reported that Bieber was the most searched for celebrity on the Internet.^[48] That same month his music video, "Baby", surpassed Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" to become the most viewed, and most disliked YouTube video ever.^[49] In September 2010, it was reported that Bieber accounted for three percent of all traffic on Twitter, according to an employee of the social-networking site.^[50]

Bieber began recording his second album in July 2010 in New York City.^[51] At this point, because of puberty, his voice was deeper than it was when he recorded his first album. In April 2010, the singer discussing his vocals remarked, "It cracks. Like every teenage boy, I'm dealing with it and I have the best vocal coach in the world. [...] Some of the notes I hit on "Baby" I can't hit anymore. We have to lower the key when I sing live."^[52]

Bieber performing in Jakarta during his My World Tour.

Bieber guest-starred in the season premiere of the CBS crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, which aired on September 23, 2010. He played a "troubled teen who is faced with a difficult decision regarding his only brother", who is also a serial bomber. Bieber was also in a subsequent episode which aired on February 17, 2011, in which his character is killed.^[53] Bieber performed a medley of "U Smile", "Baby", and "Somebody to Love" and briefly played the drums at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010.^[54] Bieber announced in October 2010 that he would release an acoustic album, called My Worlds Acoustic.^[55] It was released on Black Friday in the United States and featured acoustic versions of songs from his previous albums, and accompanied the release of a completely new song titled "Pray".^[56]

A 3-D part-biopic, part-concert film starring Bieber entitled Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, was released on February 11, 2011, directed by Step Up 3D director Jon Chu. It topped the box office with an estimated gross of $12.4 million on its opening day from 3,105 theaters.^[57] It grossed $30.3 million for the weekend and was narrowly beaten by the romantic comedy Just Go With It, which grossed $31 million.^[58] Never Say Never is said to have exceeded industry expectations, nearly matching the $31.1 million grossed by Miley Cyrus's 2008 3-D concert film, Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert, which holds the record for the top debut for a music-documentary.^[59][60] Never Say Never grossed a total of $98,441,954 worldwide.^[61] The film is accompanied by his second remix album, Never Say Never – The Remixes, released February 14, 2011, and features remixes of songs from his debut album, with guest appearances from Miley Cyrus, Chris Brown, and Kanye West, among others.^[62]

[edit] 2011–present: Under The Mistletoe and Believe

On February 27, 2011, Bieber attended the 2011 Vanity Fair Oscar Party with American actress and singer Selena Gomez,^[63] confirming several months of media speculation about a romantic relationship between the pair.^{[64][65][66][67][68][69]}

In June 2011, Bieber was ranked number 2 on the Forbes list of Best-Paid Celebrities under 30. He is the youngest star and 1 of 7 musicians on the list raking in with $53 million earned in a 12 month period.^[70] On November 1, 2011, Bieber released Under the Mistletoe, his second studio album.^[71] It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 210,000 copies in its first week of release.^[72]

In late 2011, Bieber began recording his third studio album, entitled Believe. Kanye West and Drake are confirmed to be featured on the album.^[73] On February 22, 2012, Bieber announced via Twitter that the first single off Believe will be released in March 2012.^[74] The following week, Bieber appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show to announce that the first single will be called "Boyfriend" and was released on March 26, 2012.^[75] The song was co-written by Mike Posner.^[76] The second single, Die In Your Arms, was released on May 29th, 2012. ^[77]

Image[link]

Justin Bieber has a higher score on the Klout online "influence" scale than Barack Obama or The Dalai Lama.^[78] According to Jan Hoffman of The New York Times, part of Bieber's appeal stems from his YouTube channel. Long before he released his EP, My World, in mid-November, the YouTube videos attracted millions of views.^[18] Braun recognized the appeal. Prior to flying him to Atlanta, Braun wanted to "build him up more on YouTube first" and had Bieber record more home videos for the channel. "I said: 'Justin, sing like there’s no one in the room. But let's not use expensive cameras.' We'll give it to kids, let them do the work, so that they feel like it's theirs", recalled Braun.^[18] Bieber continues to upload videos to the same channel and has opened a Twitter account, from which he interacts with fans regularly;^[10] his account was reported in November 2010 to have over 6 million followers.^[79] Since then he has been consistently gaining followers at an average of 24,000 per day.^[80] The accounts also serve marketing purposes; for example, Bieber's music video for "One Time" only began selling quickly after it was uploaded to YouTube.^[81]

Bieber performing "Favorite Girl" in Zurich, Switzerland April 2011.

Usher comments that while he and Bieber were both signed at the same age, "I had the chance to ramp up my success, where this has happened to Bieber abruptly." As a result, Usher, Braun, Bieber's bodyguard Kenny, and other adults surrounding Bieber constantly coach him on handling fame and his public image.^[18] After signing Bieber, Usher appointed one of his former assistants, Ryan Good, to be Bieber's road manager and stylist. Good, once nicknamed Bieber's "swagger coach", created a "streetwise look" for the singer which consisted of baseball caps, hoodies, dog chains and flashy sneakers. Amy Kaufman of The Los Angeles Times comments, "Though a product of a middle-class suburban upbringing in Stratford, Ontario, Bieber's manner of dress and speech ("Wassup man, how you doin'?" or "It's like, you know, whateva' ") suggest he's mimicking his favorite rappers."^[82]

Bieber is often featured in teen magazines such as Tiger Beat,^[18] and has been labeled as a "teen heartthrob".^[83] Bieber has released a collection of nail varnishes to raise awareness for charity.^[84] Wax statues of Bieber are on display at Madame Tussauds wax museums in New York, Amsterdam and London.^[85] His change of hairstyle in 2010, and the consequent alterations to Bieber products, led to it being called 'the most expensive musical haircut of all time;^[86] one company spent $100,000 to fix its dolls for the 2011 Christmas season.^[87]

Bieber has been criticized for looking and sounding younger than his age, his teen-pop music, image, and frequent media attention.^[88] He has been a frequent target of Internet bloggers and message board posters, notably by users of Internet message board 4chan and users of YouTube.^[89] Nick Collins of The Daily Telegraph speculated that "Bieber's character also appears to strike a particularly sour note with his Internet critics, with many remarks commenting on his youthful appearance, his teen-pop songs, his image as a heart-throb to young teenage girls and his manner of speech".^[90]

Personal views and life[link]

Bieber is a Christian,^[91] and said he has a relationship with Jesus, talks to him and that "he's the reason I'm here".^[92]

Bieber's comments in a February 2011 profile in Rolling Stone sparked controversy.^[93] Asked about abstinence, Bieber responded, "I don't think you should have sex with anyone unless you love them." He said he does not "believe in abortion" and that it is "like killing a baby".^[94] He described sexual orientation as "everyone's own decision."^[95] Bieber has contributed to the It Gets Better Project,^[96] which aims to prevent suicide among LGBT youth.^[97]

Bieber has said he is not interested in obtaining United States citizenship and has criticized America's health care system. Praising Canada as being "the best country in the world", he cited its health care system as a model example.^[94]

In May 2012, Bieber purchased a 10,000 square-foot mansion on 1.3 acres of land, located in the community of Calabasas, California, a suburb of Los Angeles.^[98]

Twitter[link]

As of April 2012^[update], Bieber's Twitter account (@justinbieber) is the second most popular celebrity account behind that of Lady Gaga.^[99] By mid-April 2012, he had over 20 million followers.^[100][101] His follower acquisition is one new follower every other second.^[102][103] His popularity on Twitter at one point accounted for three percent of all Twitter related traffic, with a Twitter employee commenting that "racks of servers are dedicated" to Bieber.^{[103][104][105][106][107][108][109][110][111][112]} This resulted in over 180 million page views for the service each month.^[105] Bieber was frequently a trending topic on Twitter when the feature first launched^[105] because his fans frequently discussed him on the network. ^[113] and was named the top trending star on Twitter in 2010;^[114] Klout gave his account a score of 100.^[115][116]

The size of Bieber's and Gaga's follower bases are cited as a reason why marketers should pay attention to Twitter:^[117] with an ability to reach millions of people with a single tweet.^[117] 8.3% of tweets mentioning "bieber" were semi-automated and probably Twitter related spam.^[118] Research done about Twitter and the 2011 Egyptian revolution includes Bieber as he made tweets about the topic at a time when he had roughly 8 million followers. His multiple tweets resulted in 32,000 responses each, which made Bieber's Twitter account one of the single largest nodes for discussion about the uprising one of the largest on Twitter.^[119][120]

In March 2012, Bieber fans launched an unsuccessful attempt to unseat Lady Gaga as the most popular celebrity on Twitter. Neither Bieber nor Lady Gaga discussed their mutual fanbase's campaigns on Twitter.^[121]

Discography[link]

Justin Bieber portal

• My World 2.0 (2010)
• Under the Mistletoe (2011)
• Believe (2012)

Tours[link]

• 2009: Urban Behavior Tour
• 2010–2011: My World Tour
• 2012-2013: Believe Tour

Filmography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Justin Bieber

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Justin Bieber

• Official website
• Justin Bieber at the Internet Movie Database
• Justin Bieber at the Open Directory Project
• Justin Bieber on Twitter

Parry Gripp (born September 22, 1967)^[1] is a singer-songwriter as well as lead vocalist and guitarist for the pop punk band Nerf Herder.

As a songwriter, Gripp is best known for fake jingles, as in his 2005 solo album For Those About to Shop, We Salute You - a 51-track concept album mimicking various musical styles as product commercials. While it does not have one single concept, it goes through many various concept suites, such as trucks, beer, and insomnia. He also maintains a song-of-the-week website and a YouTube channel on which he creates soundtracks to internet memes^[2] as well as music videos for his own novelty songs, with titles including "Do You Like Waffles?", "Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom", "Last Train to Awesometown", "Spaghetti Cat (I weep for you)", "Hamster on a Piano (Eating Popcorn)", "I Am A Banana" and "Baby Monkey (Going Backwards On A Pig)". Gripp also performs the Super Hero Squad Show theme song.

Gripp also joined forces with MC Lars to perform some of the vocals, including the chorus, to 'Guitar Hero Hero (Beating Guitar Hero Doesn't Make You Slash)' a song commenting on the notion that video games like Guitar Hero take kids away from playing in bands and actually learning their instruments.

Along with faux jingles, Gripp also creates some real advertising music, such as Beatles-inspired tunes promoting the Wawa Food Markets' Breakfast Hoagiefest,^[3] and songs for the Hallmark Cards e-characters hoops&yoyo.

On July 9, 2009 Parry Gripp debuted a new song called "The Girl at the Video Game Store" for the 1000th episode of the G4 TV program Attack of the Show! The video features the show's hosts Olivia Munn as the titular character and Kevin Pereira on drums.^[4]

Aside from his music, Gripp is the co-owner (with his sister) of the Santa Barbara Orchid Estate, which was founded by his father.^[5][6]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• "For Those About to Shop, We Salute You" (2005)
• "One Donut a Day" (2007)
• "Do You Like Waffles" (2008)
• "Fuzzy Fuzzy Cute Cute: Volume 1" (2010)
• "This is My Ringtone" (2011)
• "Chip Rok Volume 1" (2011)
• "Fugly Volume 2" (forthcoming, expected release date 2012)

Artwork[link]

Nathan Mazur, a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania based cartoonist, provided the animation for some of Gripp's music videos: "Do You Like Waffles?", "Up Butt Coconut", and "Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom". He also creates the "album art" that accompanies Parry Gripp's song-of-the-week.

See also[link]

• Nerf Herder

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Gripp YouTube channel