as a knowledgeable att/cingular retail employee...AND mac enthusiast, i think suspect part of the ringtone problem is pricing. att currently charges anywhere from $1.99 to $2.49 for ringtones (snippets of the whole song). Apple currently charges only .99 cent for a whole song....so how little or how much does a current itunes user expect to pay for a snippet of a song when they are only paying .99 cent for the whole song?? A major issue or question arises here. Current att customers who don't have an iphone will feel ripped if Apple charges less than $2.49 for ringtones, but at the same time Apple/itunes uses will feel ripped if they are paying more than .99 cent. Apple obviously cares more about loyalty to their customer than att does (which they should) and i think Apple knows that $2.49 for a snippet of a song is ludicrous, but at the same time they can't really tinkle in att's "ringtone" cornflakes by charging less than $2.49 thus iphone users don't have custom ringtones, as of right now. This is just my speculation as a longtime att employee and a much longer apple fan and a business major. It will be interesting to see how this is handled...
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Ringtones through itunes??
- Thread starter Antaios
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why can't apple and at&t just let customers use whatever songs they already own for their ringtones? every mobile phone i've owned since 2004 has let me do this.
btw, all i really want is for apple to release a standard ringer like the one heard on the iphone ads (can you believe it isn't part of the iphone?).
btw, all i really want is for apple to release a standard ringer like the one heard on the iphone ads (can you believe it isn't part of the iphone?).
because ringtones alone are a billion dollar industry a year....and the record labels and the RIAA would give Apple/iTunes all kinda ***** if they didn't charge for ringtones
i agree..... very interesting... i hope that is the case. It will be another selling point when I sell iphones... "not only is it cheaper than a blackberry or treo monthly... even ringtones are cheaper than any other phone we sell!!"
Yet they seem to be ok with Windows Mobile devices prominently having this feature.
Not sure this is really an issue. All the smartphones I've seen don't run all those pay as you go services for ringtones, wallpapers, etc like the regulat phones. On my last phone (moto q, windows powered) it was as easy as hooking it up to the computer and dropping the ringtones into the appropriate folder. I'm sure it's this way with the trees too, and probably the blackberries (but not 100% sure).
Why should the iPhone be any different than those phones?
Why should the iPhone be any different than those phones?
Let the labels " http://upc.*************/uploads/smilies/cry-1.gif " all they want. A consumer pays for a song and has the right to listen to it. If the consumer chooses a song he/she payed for so that it plays on any device for personal and non profit use he shouldn't have to purchase the song again**.
The major label and RIAA attitude and greed toward consumers is absurd in this respect. If I want to hear Jay Z or Beyonce when I flush my toilet I shouldn't be charged for it.
**unless the device mfg. feels like charging for the ability to play songs on the device, but that's a different animal. However splitting the profit on the resale of songs already previously purchased by the consumer between device mfg., service provider, and publisher is still gouging at its worst imo.
Apple may offer ringtones for sale, but I don't think they will stop you from adding your own.
If you have an unprotected music file, you will probably have to cut it short manually, but then be able to add it to the "ringtone" tab on iTunes, which shows up when you plug in your iPhone.
If you have an unprotected music file, you will probably have to cut it short manually, but then be able to add it to the "ringtone" tab on iTunes, which shows up when you plug in your iPhone.
Apple may offer ringtones for sale, but I don't think they will stop you from adding your own.
If you have an unprotected music file, you will probably have to cut it short manually, but then be able to add it to the "ringtone" tab on iTunes, which shows up when you plug in your iPhone.
Too bad there is no ringtones tab yet
.Apple may offer ringtones for sale, but I don't think they will stop you from adding your own.
If you have an unprotected music file, you will probably have to cut it short manually, but then be able to add it to the "ringtone" tab on iTunes, which shows up when you plug in your iPhone.
i would absolutely love it if this is going to be the case... i would like to use a local band's song as a ringtone. The song's titled "Whatcha want B!tch??"