The Apple ringtone "Marimba” uses hemiola — "a specific type of syncopation, featuring three beats where you would intuitively expect two."

"It’s a fairly common musical technique, one that’s been around for centuries, featuring prominently in the work of 19th-century composers like Brahms, Schumann and Tchaikovsky. It also regularly crops up in popular music — from the opening riff of Led Zeppelin’s 'Kashmir'..."



"... to the chorus of Britney Spears’s 'Till the World Ends'..."



"In 'Marimba'..."



"... the accented upper line creates the hemiola with a group of three notes in syncopation against the groups of two. Further, the counterpoint of the two lines jumps dramatically in pitch range, with the upper line using higher pitches that stick out conspicuously because of the accents against the lower notes in the second line.... Like 'Marimba' and [another Apple ringtone] 'Xylophone'..."



"... Queen’s 'We Will Rock You'...



"... has two repeating strands of musical activity: the stomping and clapping line, followed by Freddie Mercury’s declamatory lyrics in a freer rhythmic pattern. It’s this combination of brevity, repeatability and layered complexity that makes both pop songs and ringtones so sticky. 'The catchiness arises from the chunked and sequential nature of tunes; once they interest an ear, they play themselves through to a point of rest,' music theorist and cognitive scientist Elizabeth Margulis..."

From "No, iPhone ringtones aren’t bad. They’re musically sophisticated" by Alyssa Barnes (in WaPo).