“As the recording industry wakes up from its summer slumber and starts thinking about what will motivate the consumer for the holiday selling season, the major labels are getting ready to launch the ‘ringle,’ which combines the mostly defunct single format with ringtones,” Ed Christman reports for Billboard.
“Each ringle is expected to contain three songs — one hit and maybe one remix and an older track — and one ringtone, on a CD with a slip-sleeve cover,” Christman reports. “Sony BMG Music Entertainment, which came up with the ringle idea, and Universal Music Group are going to be the first out of the box with ringles. The former will unleash 50 titles during October and November, while UMG will have anywhere from 10 to 20 titles ready.”
“Sources suggest the ringle will carry either a $5.98 or $6.98 list price,” Christman reports.
Full article here.
Why don’t the music cartels just start trying to sell typewriters or cotton gins or something equally as relevant?
$ 5.98 ???????
haaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrr.
How many do they think will sell ? They’d have to beat Apple’s $ 1.98 price.
anything > $2 is too expensive
Whata rip off
6 million songs in iTunes (a fraction of their catalogs) and they will manage to bring 60 to market for the holiday.
Discuss amongst yourselves.
Their type should drink more gin and cotton to some new writers.
A what?!?
Ringle?!?
A CD case?!?
I haven’t bought a CD since Christmas because it was a Christmas CD that I couldn’t get on iTunes. (The Percy Faith Christmas CD only has a Partial Album on iTunes. I hate that.)
sounds like a cross promotion opportunity for Pringles
mmmmmmmmmm Cotton Gin mmmmmmmmm
And music snippets that stick in your head and can be mildly painful and annoying will be known as ringleberries.
A Ringle? Is that a cross between Ricketts and Shingles? Sounds painful.
I have to agree. This is just stupid. Sound like some kind of venereal disease.
This slipped out early. It’s not April 1st yet.
“As the recording industry wakes up from its summer slumber”, – nah, they are dreaming, still well asleep.
The etymology of ringle has more to do with wringer, (as in put you through the wringer) and wrinkle, surprisingly not linked to wringer. They thought of ringer but seriously who’d buy a ringer? On second thoughts maybe some Winkers would, their OS is.
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That’s an ok idea – seriously!!!
But here’s a better one:
Include stickers and fan club info in the booklet, mingled with low-fi concert footage right there on the CD.
If anyone knows anyone at Sony BMG Music Entertainment, i’m looking for a job, and my above idea is just a small sampling of what i’ve got up in the attic.
I had the shingles once…..
$6 for a single music tune and a ringtone. ?????
What an Ultra-maroone.
What a Nin-cow poop.
That is so yesterday.
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Have the song, get a ringtone for 99 cents.
But what bothers me is that the writers just cannot put one and one together and mention the iPhone ringtones for 99 cents. ???
Writer vs journalist. Maybe??
en
Typewriter – not relevant
Cotton gin – still relevant (unless you have cotton seeds in your jeans!)
May Universal Music go the way of dodo stuffers!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodo
a better name wuld be a “Nipplet”, just enough to tease you but not enough to make anyone want it.
Then the phone company will charge you to upload the ringtone to your phone..
Why is it that I feel as though we have discussed the “ringle” before? And it sticks in my head as an Apple patent?
Another time and place?
This is what NBC wants on iTunes
new episode of Office, with a couple of 5-10 year old sitcoms, all bundled for 4.99 what a deal, is Jobs an idiot, not to jump on this?
If only the Zune had video
Stupid is what stupid does — Forest Gump.
Whaaaat? Did this brilliant brainstorm come from an episode of Dilbert or something? Is it a disease like ringworms? A bad remake of the Divx (selfdestructing DVDs) format for CDs? This should be something you give away with Happy Meals or perhaps a freebee when you buy a Webkinz or Beanie Baby or collect 25 cereal box tops. Or perhaps you could buy it from those dispensers you see in gas station bathrooms.
Davey G,
That was “vingle:”
http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/8132/
http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/7263/
http://ipoddailynews.com/index.php/ipoddailynews/comments/apples_vingle_trademark_application_sparks_speculation
Where are they going to sell these ‘ringle’ at? There are so few brick and mortar stores left.
hotinplaya – LMAO! Good one.
Roh Roy Raggy!
I rove ringles! Ralt & Rinegar Reee Heeee
Judge Bork said
“That was “vingle:”
Wait, I thought that was a part of the Borg central core-a-ma-jiggy from Star Trek Voyager
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my wallet is empty.
Ooops, I don’t like this ringle, cringle, sprinkle concept.
And it is too expensive.
I RATHER downlown WHAT I want, when I want.
APPLE has it RIGHT.
w
Pitiful.
(Why do I think the price was the most carefully thought out part of this ‘product’?)
What idiot company came up with this idea?! Oh, Sony. I can totally believe that.
Cotton Gins? Darlin’, China killed the textile industry for just about everyone except for China. And I suspect with the cheap and forced labor in China, they might just buy a ton of Cotton Gins!
Those of you who laughed at this idea just didn’t get it. If Sony plays this smartly and tosses a bonus such as a rootkit, this will be the most innovative idea since sliced bread. You’ll never get a rootkit from iTunes Store regardless how much you are willing to pay. These things will sell by the dozens.
Fake Steve readers will recognize this as the Next Thing that Ringo was waiting for.
But seriously, my phone doesn’t have a CD player so I guess no ringles for me. (Wait… I’m supposed to transfer it… digitally? Are you sure? It isn’t that just entrapment from the RIAA? Sounds sketchy to me…)
Never mind. Ringtone isn’t actually on the CD.
Undoubtedly this will Save The Beleagured Music Industry! Brilliant!
Everybody short AAPL cuz iTunes Will Be Dead.
Three songs and a ringtone for $6 to $7. So it’s the one hit you want, plus two songs you probably don’t want, plus a ringtone that you may or may not like. And how is this significantly different from an “album.” The typical ratio of songs you like to songs you don’t like too much is probably about equal to getting the whole album.
These fuckwads never get tired of being completely stupid.
Maybe someone should tell them about the internet someday.
Here’s an idea: how about buying a song and being able to do whatever you like with it, rather than being nickeled and dimed for everything.
Here’s another: how about paying a fair price for technology, not have to pay a premium just because the manufacturers think they can gouge the public for more cash.
MW – I just “thought” I would put in my 2 cents
How about this:
Recording artists start selling directly to the public via the internet. Bypass the record companies.
Ring tones are free because I’ve already purchased the song and I don’t need to purchase a portion of the song again for a ring tone.
And how about record company execs. go stand on the street corner with a tin cup in their hand. Let’s see they’ve sold the many of the same old songs at least 5 times already. LP, 8-track, cassette, CD, Online and possibly a single. They should have saved their money.
Drunk Cheney wrote: “Recording artists start selling directly to the public via the internet.”
Just like Jackie “The Jokeman” Martling’s ex-wife: http://www.nancysirianni.com/home.html. “Heeeeeeeey!”
The music industry just doesn’t get it!
They are marketing to kids (10 to 14 year olds). But, the kids they are marketing to don’t buy CDs of any kind. Baby Boomers still buy the bulk of CDs but the recording industry does not target that demographic of buyer any longer. When the Music industry had some smarts was in the demographic that they marketed too was the 25 to 17 year olds in the 70’s and 80’s. A time when there were real artists in the industry and the industry promoted the artists. Today a label wants to shove 2 to 3 artists (no matter how bad that artist is) down the throats of the music listeners.
Brittney “no talent” Spears is a perfect example she was done and over after her second release, in the day, she might have been given a one release deal with a pick-up option if she was lucky.
The music industry has no real new upcoming superstar talents releasing music any more. The few remaining superstars are all self promoting, self financed and in positions in the industry to dictate contract terms so, the industry does not promote these releases because there is no promo payback overrides, interest fee, advance money pay downs, etc. When you can take a $9.00 wholesale price and your ROI is $8.58 for a Britney but, for a U2 the same $9.00 wholesale price and your ROI is $4.67, because you actually have to pay the artist a royalty.
What does all of this mean, it means the industry is broken. The only way to fix the industry is for the industry to basically go away. The RIAA as to disappear and Artists will need to pickup the pieces and work like Artists in other media do and all the wonderful indie music artist do today.
The recording industry thinks Apple iTunes has too much power in the industry. If I were Apple I flex my power and show them how vulnerable they are. I pick a new indie release like Jen Bye “Less than Perfect for this World” and promote the crap out of it world wide.
I personally don’t buy music from iTunes (other then the occasional oldies/classic Music Video)
I buy CDs and MP3 of Indie Music Artists from CDBaby.com.