New iTunes Released

[Random Ping]

And I've already GOT my music. Fair use doctrine tells me I should not have to pay to snip a piece of it into a ringtone.

Usually a provider needs to get permission from the rights holder to use the song in a significantly different way than what has already been granted. Since only a percentage of the songs are available for this, I suspect this is the case with Apple.

For each song that Apple wants to let you turn into a ringtone, Apple probably has to get special permission from the owners and then pay them each time someone does this.

 

[Porco]

Wow, so I guess the millions of people who buy ringtones on their phones are morons.

Ever heard of if you don't like it don't buy it?

The point is we've already bought it, and now they want to charge us for it again!

I've always thought charging for non-original ringtones (that is, portions of music tracks etc) is a terrible form of immoral double-dipping for the music industry, but if you at least get the option to put your own files on as ringtones it's a free choice.

It isn't a free choice when Apple or other phone manufacturers artificially prevent you from triggering your own legitimate music files upon receiving calls. This is not about copyright infringement or the relative price of ringtones, it's about crippling an aspect of the device purely to profit from the feature that crippling disables.

Imagine if they sold the iPhone with a colour screen that only displayed in greyscale unless you paid double your monthly contract charge to restore colour?! It's not really any different to that in my mind.

 

[Camui]

Has anyone downloaded 7.4 yet?

 

[Porco]

Usually a provider needs to get permission from the rights holder to use the song in a significantly different way than what has already been granted. Since only a percentage of the songs are available for this, I suspect this is the case with Apple.

For each song that Apple wants to let you turn into a ringtone, Apple probably has to get special permission from the owners and then pay them each time someone does this.

How can I play any MP3 or [unprotected]AAC on my SonyEricsson phone then?

 

[PupnTaco]

Has anyone downloaded 7.4 yet?

I'm guessing "no" since it hasn't been released yet.

 

[Loge]

The whole idea of paying to use my own music is insulting, but Apple has to pick their battles. This is exactly the kind of compromise that lost NBC - I am guessing that additional fee is going to AT&T, the record companies, etc.

Hmm. $4.99 for a TV show starts to look quite reasonable compared to paying $0.99 for 30 seconds of music you already have.

 

[Random Ping]

That would be true if I didn't own the song already.

You don't "own the song". You "own the right" to play the song under certain conditions.

For example, when you "buy a song" from iTunes, you only have the right to play it on a maximum of 5 computers at any one time. Apple has fought fairly hard to extend these rights for the consumer as much as possible, and the media holders have fought it every step of the way.

For example, NBC is making its content available on Amazon's Unbox service this year instead of iTunes, but you have far fewer rights on how you can watch it.

 

[Random Ping]

Please explain to me how paying for something and then being told I'll have to pay AGAIN for the same thing is 'thinking it should be free'?

Don't forget, you are already limited with what you can do with the song. For example, you cannot play it on more than 5 different computers at one time (which is a problem for me, especially when I forget to unregister one of the old ones).

The whole explosion of digital media and digital devices that can play the digital media is completely changing the way media companies think ("think" being a generous term here). I personally think the major media companies are SUPER STUPID and are in the process of destroying themselves, but there it is.

 

[nimbuscloud]

You guys can really complain.

The thing is, if I have a song that I like, I can pay $.99 to make a ringtone with it. Not bad.

Ask Verizon can you do that. Hell, they charge $2.49 for JUST a ringtone. Can't edit it or do anything with it.

Please remember. Apple is a FOR PROFIT company, they aren't going to just GIVE away a billion dollar industry like the ringtone biz for nothing. What are you guys smoking?

The next thing ya know, you'll be griping because the PowerBook G5 wasn't announced...

 

[javaGuru]

Are there any other iPhone owners out there who are annoyed with Apple right now? Some of us just bought a $600 phone 2 MONTHS ago, and they just dropped the price, and released a new product that is almost the same thing without having to deal with at&t.

Thanks Apple. Remind me never to buy any new device you come out with for a couple of months ever again.

I'm very dissapointed in this. I would have expected a price drop but not so soon. It's only been a little over 2 months. But, with that being said i'm still glad that I purchased it. I don't have any regrets. Maybe a retroactive rebate should be in the works...

 

[Random Ping]

$4.99 for a TV show starts to look quite reasonable compared to paying $0.99 for 30 seconds of music you already have.

The problem with a TV show (or movie for that matter), is that you will probably only watch it once (or a very small number of times). Music and ringtones, on the other hand, are played over and over again.

That is why (IMHO) music is a "purchase" business, while TV and Movies should be a "subscription" business.

 

[javaGuru]

You guys can really complain.

The thing is, if I have a song that I like, I can pay $.99 to make a ringtone with it. Not bad.

Ask Verizon can you do that. Hell, they charge $2.49 for JUST a ringtone. Can't edit it or do anything with it.

Please remember. Apple is a FOR PROFIT company, they aren't going to just GIVE away a billion dollar industry like the ringtone biz for nothing. What are you guys smoking?

The next thing ya know, you'll be griping because the PowerBook G5 wasn't announced...

I agree with this. Most companies will charge a lot more than .99 and you have to pay for a ringtone that is already created. Atleast we get to create our own. Of coarse, i'm sure there will be a hack for this in the near furture like everything else. I will not use this or any other hack but i'm sure this will be the case.

 

[jamespa66]

I'll be damned if I'm paying another .99 for a song that I already paid for!

 

[Porco]

I just want to say that iTunes already has a the tools to make MP3 and AAC ringtones.

Very good, and nice tutorial. However, as I understand it, once you move that ringtone to the iPhone it will be entirely useless except as a low quality clip of a track you already have, because Apple have crippled the iPhone to only play what they say you can. That's what sucks so much.

Good tutorial for anyone with a phone that does let you play any file as a ringtone though, as things should be.

 

[chillywilly]

Nice tutorial post, Fiveos22.

 

[Porco]

Please remember. Apple is a FOR PROFIT company, they aren't going to just GIVE away a billion dollar industry like the ringtone biz for nothing. What are you guys smoking?

Perhaps the same stuff as SonyEricsson, the makers of my current phone, which can play any MP3 or [unprotected] AAC files as a ringtone out of the box.

This one issue and the way it makes me feel about Apple's attitude towards their iPhone customers is seriously making me not want to buy an iPhone - so where's the "PROFIT" for them in that, while I keep using my SonyEricsson phone instead?

 

[milo]

Wow, so I guess the millions of people who buy ringtones on their phones are morons.

I assume you're being sarcastic...but I would agree with that statement.

How is it "fair" to charge you 100% again simply for having a portion of the exact same file play when someone calls you? Or for preventing you from using your own musical compositions which aren't available on the iTunes Store in any form?

Who ever said life is fair?

When you bought a song on itunes did it say that the purchase included ringtone use? If it didn't, you can't really be upset that they're not letting you have it.

And if you really want to complain, send it to the record companies. I'm sure apple would love to let people just use itunes songs as ringtones but there's no way in hell the record companies would give up that extra income. And only half a million songs are even eligible, the rest are probably record labels who wanted MORE but apple wouldn't give in.

The point is we've already bought it, and now they want to charge us for it again!

You obviously don't understand how intellectual property works. You did NOT buy it, you bought some limited rights to use the music. Those didn't include ringtone use. It sucks, but that's how the record industry chooses to play, and lots of people are willing to pay just for ringtones. If you don't like it, don't buy the song and don't buy the ringtone.

How can I play any MP3 or [unprotected]AAC on my SonyEricsson phone then?

Probably because sony doesn't sell music from any other labels. Do they? If they only sell their own music, they don't have any content provider contracts to worry about. I'm sure Apple could easily allow using any mp3 or AAC as a ringtone, but many labels would probably pull their music from the itunes store if they did.

If you were in apple's shoes, what would YOU do if the record companies all insisted on purchased ringtones only?

 

[Camui]

I'm guessing "no" since it hasn't been released yet.

Various news sites, including this one, reported it as being 'released'. Apple's own site says to download the new version in places. That is why I asked if anyone had downloaded 7.4 or not.

 

[CWallace]

Perhaps the same stuff as SonyEricsson, the makers of my current phone, which can play any MP3 or [unprotected] AAC files as a ringtone out of the box.

You can do that now.

I've had custom ringtones on my iPhone since the day I bought it thanks to iPhoneRingToneMaker for Windows and iToner for Mac. I just take one of my MP3s, edit to size, and then shoot it on over.

Apple is just offering to do all the "grunt work" for you, and wants 99 cents for providing the service each time. But it is certainly not the only way to get custom ringtones on the iPhone.

Too many people seem to not realize that...

 

[scrambledwonder]

Okay. Am I the only person on the planet who doesn't want to hear, like, three seconds of some song when somebody calls me? I just want the damn phone to ring. Just ring. No songs. If I want to listen to music, I'll use headphones or speakers.

And am I the only person on the planet who glares at people who have stupid song ring tones? Like their phone goes "UHHHHHHH, Naa naaa naa naaa!" when it rings, or "Welcome to the jungle!" or something and I think, feck, what are you, 13?

 

[mdriftmeyer]

Ringtones and Artist Copyrights

Everyone is complaining about not taking any song you own and just create ringtones out of them.

Complain to the Artist/Music Publisher who negotiates with Apple on ringtones.

Is there a way to fake it out that it has an ID tag for Ringtone, yes?

Can't tell until one can download it and check out the plists files and how ringtones are handled via XML.

 

[Porco]

You obviously don't understand how intellectual property works. You did NOT buy it, you bought some limited rights to use the music. Those didn't include ringtone use.
[....]

Any tracks I buy from the iTunes Store are subject to the terms I buy them from, I understand that, but that isn't what this is about for me. This is Apple artificially stopping the iPhone from playing the tracks in certain conditions purely to force people who want to play those tracks in those circumstances to pay twice. That just isn't on in my opinion.

Regardless of that, I still can't use my own music (i.e. a Garageband composition or music I own the rights to or music out of copyright). They have nothing to do with that, just like Sony have nothing to do with it on my current phone. I didn't buy it from them. I am not signed to a music label. I own my Intellectual Property, which I understand just fine thank you very much. The iPhone will play the files as an iPod, but not as a phone, because they want me to pay them money to edit down a limited number of tracks. They don't give me the option of playing my own music on my own phone (as a ringtone). How can you defend that? It's crazy.

You can do that now.

I've had custom ringtones on my iPhone since the day I bought it thanks to iPhoneRingToneMaker for Windows and iToner for Mac. I just take one of my MP3s, edit to size, and then shoot it on over.

Apple is just offering to do all the "grunt work" for you, and wants 99 cents for providing the service each time. But it is certainly not the only way to get custom ringtones on the iPhone.

Too many people seem to not realize that...

I don't think you really understood my term, "out of the box", by which I mean, without recourse to 3rd party apps, hacks, etc.

It's not just the issue itself, it's the philosophical attitude it represents (i.e. 'let's squeeze more money out of the less tech-savvy consumer because we can by crippling the phone). I find it ethically horrible, it's basically a tax on the technologically less educated. I realise full well there are ways round it, there just shouldn't be anything to get round in the first place, that's my point.

 

[tribulation]

That would be true if I didn't own the song already. So you're saying it makes sense I pay $15 for a CD, then have to pay another dollar for any song from the CD I paid for to use as a ringtone on my own phone???

They don't need to negotiate. Offer the service, but also offer an open way for people to add their own ringtones or whatever if they so choose [without hacks]. If you want the super-easy way, pay Apple. If not, do it yourself with whatever audio file you choose.

Heck, my Kyocera 6035 that ran Palm OS about 8 years ago or so allowed me to use any audio file I wanted. Nothing particularly hard or tricky licensing about it. Plain and simple. Apple is getting evermore greedy.

 

[GravityEyes]

Okay. Am I the only person on the planet who doesn't want to hear, like, three seconds of some song when somebody calls me? I just want the damn phone to ring. Just ring. No songs. If I want to listen to music, I'll use headphones or speakers.

And am I the only person on the planet who glares at people who have stupid song ring tones? Like their phone goes "UHHHHHHH, Naa naaa naa naaa!" when it rings, or "Welcome to the jungle!" or something and I think, feck, what are you, 13?

AMEN BROTHER !!!

I wish people with stupid ringtones would start on fire as their phone rings

 

[Cleverboy]

I know I'll do my part for iToner to crack 1/4 million in sales. I think that's about... what 25,000 paying users? Come on, we can do it. $15 ain't nuthin. I'm sure Ambrosia would appreciate the love.

Other than that, I'll be glad when the short-sighted folks that a.) don't know why it wasn't Apple's decision to charge for ringtones b.) don't know why its great for all iPhone users that Apple lowered the price $200... just get OVER themselves. I get it, your mad. Boo hoo. We've got plenty of options, and faulting Apple for not being a panacea of wonderful fortunes JUST FOR YOU... is very very ignorant.

~ CB