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Apple Adds Ringtone Support to iTunes
- Thread starter shear dude
- Start date
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Hmmm...
I don't see this going too far if they don't license more songs as ringtones. I've purchased almost 350 songs via iTunes and NOT ONE is "ringtonable." Granted I listen to non-Top 40 stuff, but hey, I have taste. Just what the heck CAN you turn into a ringtone -- Britney Spears?
It's also extremely frustrating that you can't permanently elect to view the ringtone column in iTunes Music Store -- you have to enable it for every search you do??? That's certainly not going to encourage a lot of purchases by folks who only want to buy a song IF they can make it into a ringtone.
Apple, come on -- I want to pay you money for something I could use iToner for, much more flexibly -- but throw me a line!
I don't see this going too far if they don't license more songs as ringtones. I've purchased almost 350 songs via iTunes and NOT ONE is "ringtonable." Granted I listen to non-Top 40 stuff, but hey, I have taste. Just what the heck CAN you turn into a ringtone -- Britney Spears?
It's also extremely frustrating that you can't permanently elect to view the ringtone column in iTunes Music Store -- you have to enable it for every search you do??? That's certainly not going to encourage a lot of purchases by folks who only want to buy a song IF they can make it into a ringtone.
Apple, come on -- I want to pay you money for something I could use iToner for, much more flexibly -- but throw me a line!
I guarantee this whole $0.99 fiasco was AT&Ts and the music industry's doing. If you remember at the 2007 Macworld Keynote when the iPhone was introduced, you were going to be able to turn any song you had on your iPhone into a ringtone. Makes sense, it's an iPod for crying out loud! Then this ability somehow vanished when the iPhone shipped. I'm sure it was a deal with the devil to get it out. Took longer than they expected. I'm sure Apple had the app all ready to go day one, but AT&T and the music industry want to milk every nickel and dime out of you that they can.
The app itself is VERY Apple. The repaying for a song you already have is ridiculous. Very non-Apple.
Let's see, pay again for a song that is already authorized to you in your iTunes account and already has DRM so only you can play it? WTF?? This is one of the most evil things ever created. Don't support it. Use the hack.
The app itself is VERY Apple. The repaying for a song you already have is ridiculous. Very non-Apple.
Let's see, pay again for a song that is already authorized to you in your iTunes account and already has DRM so only you can play it? WTF?? This is one of the most evil things ever created. Don't support it. Use the hack.
I really don't get the mentality of paying for a tune you already own to have the 'privilege' of it as a ringtone. You can do it for free with every other phone via Bluetooth or USB. Not sure this will light any fires in the UK here...
Can you edit the song to have the right portion you want as a ringtone, or are you stuck with the beginning ??
Can you edit the song to have the right portion you want as a ringtone, or are you stuck with the beginning ??
It seems only work the songs which purchase in US store, I bought a lot of songs in CAD store, none of them can make a ringtone in iTunes.
I just right-clicked on a song I purchased. One of the options in the contextual menu is Create Ringtone (it's also under Store > Create Ringtone...). I chose it and the ringtone editor popped up, letting me choose my clip. When I clicked to buy the ringtone I got an error. The song did not have a Bell next to it.
Pissed Off
Okay, so the ring-tones work, but... there is something that makes me mad..
I have bought a lot of madonna cds, and it appears as though every madonna cd in the itunes library is available to make into a ring-tone... Most of the madonna I have in my library is cds that I have uploaded into itunes myself... when I try to make these into ring-tones and pay the extra dollar itunes tells me the song is not eligible to make into a ring-tone and I have have to buy the album all over again...
What the hell is that apple?!!!!!
FIX IT!
Okay, so the ring-tones work, but... there is something that makes me mad..
I have bought a lot of madonna cds, and it appears as though every madonna cd in the itunes library is available to make into a ring-tone... Most of the madonna I have in my library is cds that I have uploaded into itunes myself... when I try to make these into ring-tones and pay the extra dollar itunes tells me the song is not eligible to make into a ring-tone and I have have to buy the album all over again...
What the hell is that apple?!!!!!
FIX IT!
Yeah, did they enhance the iTunes Store search? It now auto completes search terms and works really well. Maybe I'm just late to the party, but it's very neat.
Something interesting just happened to me. I ALSO had purchased quite a few songs from iTunes with none of them showing up as being able to be a RingTone. But, I went to try it out. I bought "Rock Steady" from Aretha Franklin. After attempting to buy it as a RingTone, A BUNCH more of my purchased iTunes songs suddenly came up as "RingTone-able." Try it. If none of your previous bought iTune songs have shown up, buy one song that is RingTone-able (you don't even have to buy the RingTone - just hit cancel when you get the confirmation message from Apple (where you enter your iTunes account password). All of a sudden a bunch of my previously bought iTune songs became available as RingTones.
Blech
I just spent 10 minutes or so searching through iTunes for most of the bigger-name artists I listen to, and guess what -- I had jack to chose from for ringtones. Here are some diverse examples:
Pink Floyd -- none!
David Bowie -- none!
Bob Dylan -- none!
Aphex Twin -- none!
And on and on. LAME! There were a good number of songs from The Cure's Disintegration album -- like the album, but a little too down and depressing to use as a ringtone! A couple of Depeche ode songs, but not Policy of Truth or the regular mix of Enjoy the Silence.
Yes, I think it may be time to pay Ambrosia for iToner... I really wanted to give you a chance, Apple, but this is pretty lame.
I just spent 10 minutes or so searching through iTunes for most of the bigger-name artists I listen to, and guess what -- I had jack to chose from for ringtones. Here are some diverse examples:
Pink Floyd -- none!
David Bowie -- none!
Bob Dylan -- none!
Aphex Twin -- none!
And on and on. LAME! There were a good number of songs from The Cure's Disintegration album -- like the album, but a little too down and depressing to use as a ringtone! A couple of Depeche ode songs, but not Policy of Truth or the regular mix of Enjoy the Silence.
Yes, I think it may be time to pay Ambrosia for iToner... I really wanted to give you a chance, Apple, but this is pretty lame.
I really think we should control ourselves from spending on this. I like Marimba, and otherwise we can use itoner and put whatever we like on.
The selection of ringtonable songs is... pathetic. Exactly NONE of my 300 iTMS purchased songs were eligible... In any case, I just bought Matchbox Twenty's "How Far We've Come" so I could try out the new feature... it does work
So... $1.98 and 30 seconds later I have a nice ringtone on my iPhone.. but they really need to enable this for non-purchased songs...
So... $1.98 and 30 seconds later I have a nice ringtone on my iPhone.. but they really need to enable this for non-purchased songs...
I thought they said they'd have 500,000 songs ring-tonable. I see very, very few with the bell icon. :'(
Looks like they're rolling out ringtones they way they roll out new releases on Tuesdays. I've also been able to get one or two songs into ringtone edit mode (Rilo Kiley's Portion for Foxes and Cold War Kids' Hang Me Up to Dry).
Be patient. Now's not a good time to beta test ringtones for them.
Be patient. Now's not a good time to beta test ringtones for them.
Attachments
they may be slow to reflect. Earlier I looked at the Top 100 iTunes songs and none were ringtonable. Now 4 are. Still pretty poor, but maybe not all of them are showing yet.
arn
I got "Someday Baby" from Modern Times, Positvely 4th Street, Things Have Changed, Just Like a Woman as an available RingTones. But I agree, not much considering his HUGE catalog. Hopefully this will just get bigger.
I fully support your decision.
In fairness to Apple, I'm guessing they don't have much say in it. Companies who own the rights to said songs have to agree to let Apple sell them as ringtones before they can offer them.
I think someone has to first say "create ringtone" from one of their purchased songs and then the bell shows for everyone else.
I only had 5 bells. Then I right clicked and "created ringtone" it then became a bell. I logged out and back in and had more bells I assume as folks are "creating ringtones" Nothing like having us do the work for them, I guess this way they don't have to try to guess what ringtones people will buy.
PS- I only see bells next to Itunes purchased items and can only create a ringtone from Itunes items.
I only had 5 bells. Then I right clicked and "created ringtone" it then became a bell. I logged out and back in and had more bells I assume as folks are "creating ringtones" Nothing like having us do the work for them, I guess this way they don't have to try to guess what ringtones people will buy.
PS- I only see bells next to Itunes purchased items and can only create a ringtone from Itunes items.
I really think they're still updating the store. Early on I was actually able to get all the way through the ringtone editor with a song with no bell next to it (Help Me Rhonda) but got an error after hitting buy. Now I'm unable to make a ringtone even out of songs that have the bell by them, but the failure behavior is changing over time, and all of it indicates problems communicating with the store. I bet a late night rollout was planned to minimize the number of users. I'm betting it will be working in the morning, and I'm hoping to make/buy a couple ringtones to try it out.
Hope they announce details on the $100 gift card for iPhone owners tomorrow too. It's Tuesday and all...
Hope they announce details on the $100 gift card for iPhone owners tomorrow too. It's Tuesday and all...
Finally I can delete the ringtone I miscreated before the ringtone list appeared on the left
Thats the first thing I did.
I'm really bothered by the fact I can't turn my brothers album into a ringtone, or anythign I made in garageband. Really effin sucks. I want to make my own ringtone.
I go from a un-crippled pda phone to dealing with this crap.... oh... wait... I had to edit my own tones in garageband before too... oh well, back to renaming m4r then m4a, that hack still works on macos, so does sftp'ing too.
I fully support your decision.
In fairness to Apple, I'm guessing they don't have much say in it. Companies who own the rights to said songs have to agree to let Apple sell them as ringtones before they can offer them.
Andrew, if you incorporated even a basic ringtone editor w/ a fade-out function into the application, I wouldn't even hesitate. As for now I'd have to go into Garageband, Logic Pro, etc. etc. -- kind of a pain in my butt. I will still probably buy iToner soon, but these two functions -- essentially mimicking Apple's interface -- would sell me in a moment.