“Steve Jobs is getting into the ringtones business, The Post has learned. Apple is in the midst of developing an offering with the major music labels to sell ringers to iPhone users via iTunes, multiple sources familiar with the situation said,” Brian Garrity reports for The New York Post.
“The service – expected to be unveiled when Apple announces its new lineup of iPods – would allow users to turn almost any song sold through iTunes into a ringtone for an additional fee. The exact price was unclear,” Garrity reports.
“Apple will also allow users to convert songs they have previously purchased through iTunes into a ringtone,” Garrity reports. “iPhone users will have the ability to choose any part of the song they want as their ringtone. Most major ringtone offerings from Verizon, AT&T or Sprint feature pre-determined samples.”
“For consumers who don’t want to design personalized ringtones, Apple will also sell traditional music ringtones,” Garrity reports. “While most of the major labels are expected to participate in the offering, Universal Music Group, the world’s largest music company, will not.”
Full article here.
Universal won’t participate, of course, because they’re royal a-holes and they have a reputation to maintain. By the way, did you know that BitTorrent was designed expressly for Universal content? No, really, it’s true.
Of particular interest: Ambrosia releases iToner: custom ringtones for Apple iPhone – August 31, 2007
I won’t buy a ringtone until they increase the volume of the ringer on my iPhone. Although it is possible that the ringtones, being based on music, may be louder (the music on the iPhone speaker is very loud compared to the phone ringer). I suppose we wil see.
The ringtone on my mighty and magnificent Motorola Q is ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ by The Who for all of the FUD coming from you MAC lemmings. My phone only costs $99. Ballmer was right when he asked “Who’s gonna buy a $600 phone?” Suck it, MAC lemmings.
Your potential. Our passion.™
Royal a-holes eh…HAHAHAHA
yeah, iFuntastic works well…..it allows me to have my Captain Planet, Inspector Gadget, and Power Rangers ringtones….
But Universal did bring Firefly to the big screen, so I can’t revile them totally – not while there is still hope for a Serenity sequel anyway.
Shit, half the stuff I’d want for ringtones is from Universal.
This war with them is going to hurt.
The ringtone on my mighty and magnificent Motorola Q is ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ by The Who for all of the FUD coming from you MAC lemmings. My phone only costs $99. Ballmer was right when he asked “Who’s gonna buy a $600 phone?” Suck it, MAC lemmings.
Your potential. Our <strike>p</strike.ass<strike>ion</strike>.™
Don’t forget about the additional $20 per month with Verizon and AT&T for the Q. I believe that makes the total about equal.
Ballmer is a furniture abusing moron…
I am absolutely never, ever paying for a ringtone “song”. Especially if I already have it on my iPhone, bought it from iTunes, or ripped from a CD I bought at the store. Please explain to me why I need to pay more for it, because I just don’t get it.
But victory will be sweet.
Edit:
Your potential. Our <strike>p</strike>ass<strike>ion</strike>.™
Damn fat fingers
Better yet, use your favorite audio app, like Garageband to make your own ringtones and use Ambrosia’s iToner to install them on your iPhone without hacking!
http://www.ambrosiasw.com/utilities/itoner/
Ummm whats so big about that? iPhone needs more important things than stupid ringtones. Treos and BB blows it away right now.
Damn, my therapy isn’t working. I love my iPhone. Sorry Mac users, I don’t mean to be such a retarded Microsoft Windows Butt Monkey Lemming Fan Dork™, it just happens. PLEASE disregard any negative comments I make about Apple and it’s wonderful products.
Again, I’m sorry.
Only idiots pay for ringtones. Why can I not simply use a sound I create as a ringtone?
Why do I have to hack the iPhone to put it in and then when an update comes out, my ringtone, that I created get’s wiped.
This isn’t Apple anymore.
This phone deserves to be boycotted for so many reasons.
originalrecipes
Looks like you’ve never used an iPhone, which is ok, but until you do you should really keep your “Treos and BB blows it away right now.” comments to yourself they just make you seem ignorant.
Ummm I do own an 8GB iPhone. Interface is nice, iPod A/V parts are nice, real world use is a total joke. LOL But I’ll keep it for a year and then switch to a Nokia when their wide screen comes out.
If Apple had any sense, they would pull the market out from under the current Ringtone Sellers by allowing the iPhone to use any MP3/AAC file – what everyone really wants.
Universal (and now NBC apparently) have shown themselves to be greedy f*ckwits. People don’t realize how lucky we are to have Apple standing between us & these asswipes. Where most retailers would jump on the prospect of charging more to customers for something the don’t want…Apple is holding these dipsh*ts off and protecting us consumers…and the reputation of the iTunes Store. Keep it up Apple. Besides, though Universal may be big, their “artists” mostly suck the high hard one!
I highly doubt that Apple is behind the lack of ability to install whatever you want as a ring tone. This surely has to do with AT&T. The phone companies fleece a ton of money with ring tones. If Apple does announce a way to buy music specifically for use as a ring tone, I think we can rest assured the bulk of that money will be going into AT&T’s pocket, not Apple’s. There’s a price to pay for getting into bed with the phone companies. This is part of it.
Real-world use of the iPhones is FANTASTIC.
I use it for e-mail and web-browsing when I’m “out and about” all the time. It’s certainly NOT a joke.
As for ringtones … well … I’d rather have my old star-trek communicator beep sounds back. I miss them.
@Jedd:
I am not certain, but from reading the article it sounds like:
1) If you already bought the song you can turn it into a ringtone for free
2) If you have not yet bought the song, you can turn it into a ringtone for a difference price than buying the song and turning it into a ringtone. (I would assume that price would be lower, but it didn’t specifically say in the article)
Setting your music library songs as ringtones should definitely be a basic and non-cost feature of your phone.
What’s next? iElectricity to get your mac started and iBandwith to connect your mac in to internet. Apple could also remove the hard drives from macs and sell iHD internet storage to save your own data. 10Mb/1$
Apple I love you. Please don’t put a price tag on everything.
Since when does the New York Post count as a legitimate source of news?? Jeez, they’re pretty much a tabloid!
Blah…. would rather make my own ringtones!
Why would anyone want to pay more for music and sounds they are already licensed to use and listen to?!
Can’t you just assign any song or midi file in your iPhone as a rigntone? Works like a charm on my N93.
I can hear it ring already, I just can’t hear anyone talk. UP the volume on both ear and speaker modes.