“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