Vengaboys ring for success

Coming to a school bus near you: The Vengaboys

Pop group The Vengaboys are previewing their new single as a ring tone for mobile phones.

The Dutch dance act have released their new single Cheekah Bow Bow to the Ringtones.com website as a download for compatible phones.

The track is not available in shops until 9 October.

The site sells ringtones based on many tracks, but is using the Vengaboys track to test whether potential customers can use the service or not.

The single shows off "fifth member" Cheeka

Ben Wood, a director of the site's parent company Mobile Life Streams, told BBC News Online: "It's the first time we've done anything like this, and we were delighted when EMI approached us about it.

"It's only been live for a day and we've already seen a lot of traffic on the site."

A spokeswoman for the group, whose previous hits include We Like To Party, Boom Boom Boom Boom and We're Going To Ibiza, said: "It's a fantastic song and it's a really good ring tone."

Customised ring tones have been available for mobile phones since 1998.

Scores of websites now offer them alongside picture messages and "operator logos" which appear on the screen when the phone picks up a signal.

Ringtone.com's top sellers include club hit Sandstorm by Darude, The Real Slim Shady by rapper Eminem, Jumpin' Jumpin' by soul group Destiny's Child, and the theme to TV drama Casualty.

Earlier this year, the Vengaboys' record company, EMI announced it was planning to open its back catalogue - featuring acts such as David Bowie, Janet Jackson, Queen, and Phil Collins - to the growing ring tones market.