Slashdot Mirror
Cell Phone Ringtones Give Music Industry Another Headache
Alien54 writes "Xingtone's desktop software allows you to create mobile phone ringtones using digital audio files on your computer. As seen here, The software evokes the same ``oh wow, oh no'' reaction from the labels that greeted the original Napster. The fear is that people will make 30 second long ringtones out of popular songs, thus compounding the file-sharing problem while robbing the music industry of a new source of revenue. Many users find the technology quite cool. IANAL, but current copyright guidelines seem to permit fair use of "Up to 10% of a body of sound recording, but no more than 30 seconds". All of which should make for an interesting legal debate. I can hear the gnashing of teeth already."
Very few pop songs last 300 seconds. The monopoly on long ring tones is maintained.
The only headache I forsee is having to listen to everyone's favourite song every time a phone rings.
But how is taking a snippet of a song and putting it on my phone any worse than taking an entire song and putting it on my computer? Obviously the record companies want people to pay for ringtone-specific clips, but I see nothing wrong with this software.
Who doesn't like free music?
*MUST* the RIAA get paid for *EVERY* time someone does anything *REMOTELY* connected to the shit music their labels pump out? I mean, DAMN. Can't they just let it go!?
*sigh*
- GNU/Anonymous Coward
Some people already own the music, or can buy the actual song for the same price. Why pay twice?
The fear is that people will make ringtones out of pirated songs, thus compounding the file-sharing problem while robbing the music industry of a new source of revenue.
That's not the real fear. The real fear is that people will make ringtones out of the CDs they already have. That process is nothing more than format shifting, trimming, and then playback when a particular event happens to the phone. Uhm... there's no laws against that process.
The record industry is a bit worried because this had appeared to be a new business model for them... but if the software to make a good enough ringtone is easy enough for the average consumer to do on their own, then consumers don't need to pay to re-buy a track they already have if they want it as a ringtone.
Sorry, this business model was dead on arrival. Please try again.
Ugh, stupid cell phones. While this is a neat idea, I keep mine on vibrate, just because I know how annoying a music ringtone is when its someone elses.
The music industry does't seem to have a problem with every rap "artist" sampling the heck out of other peoples music. I don't see the difference when I sample it. Call my cell phone "ART" --Colin
New concept: ban all ring tones; all that is needed is vibrate mode. It would solve so many problems...
No they cant let it go.. they DO want every time, they DO want pay per listen..
Its their business model.. ( or at least what model they want.. )
Ya, they suck.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Since when? Fair use applies to all people.
Forget thrust, drag, lift and weight. Airplanes fly because of money.
So let me get this straight:
1. Fair use is 10% of a song or 30 seconds, whatever comes first, right?
2. Making ring tones out of popular songs falls under fair use.
What am I missing? Ah yes, I know!
3. Someone with a large lobbying department is not making a profit.
Don't worry. If fair-use prevents the making of a large profit, fair-use will be weakened.
A little over two centuries ago, Thomas Jefferson considered copyrights as a sort of necessary evil to promote the creation of works that would (eventually) be in the public domain.
Today, copyrights exit for only three things: profit, profit, profit. The company that benefited from the vast amount of ideas that had passed into the public domain (Disney) was the company that promoted the idea of "forever" copyrights.
Sure, people might already own the music, but that's not what they're paying for. They're paying for the music to be instantly transferred to their phone in a usable format.
People that want to save money have already got the option of using the 'record' function on their phones to pick up a clip of the song and then set it as a ringtone. Ringtone downloads aren't aimed at those people. They're aimed at kids who want to quickly change their ringtone as a fashion item, possibly while at school or out with friends. If you have to go home to your computer, it's just not as cool anymore.
--This is a self-referential sig--
I speak as someone who creates works and earns money from them, not as a mere consumer.
curator_thew (778098)
I wouldn't disparage those consumers if I were you.
They are the ones you earn money from, not the works.
You can't fault the RIAA for trying to soak the maximum value out of everything they do, that's just plain the nature of greed and we all have it to some degree.
Really, I blame the people who think this kind of behaviour is acceptable, and apologize for them.
The downloadable ringtone market is expected to double to $4 billion by 2008. Just because Slashdotters don't think ringtones are cool won't stop millions of pre-teen mushbrains from blowing their allowances on ringtones, and you can be damn sure the RIAA knows it.
Since ringtones have become popular I've noticed that fewer people choose the vibrate option. For those of you with ringtones get a clue, your ringtones are NOT cool! Everytime I hear one I just roll my eyes. Everyone thinks that they have the one tone that is soooo cooool that nobody will mind listening to it. People fail to realize that others don't want to be interrupted by random snips of ANY music played on a crappy speaker.
Perhaps if the RIAA managed to get some draconian measures enforced to charge you a royalty fee everytime your dumbass ringtone went off you'd switch back to vibrate. I hate the RIAA, but honestly, I hate ringtones more.
plurvert
I envision a goon squad scene for the likes of Minority Report bursting in on some kids in a typical suburban bedroom right about the time little Jimmy mashes the play button on his vintage cassette boombox left behind for him from his grand-dad.
Jimmy was just about to show his buddy what gramps used to listen to, there's, I dunno, an old home-made tape of Black Flag or something of the like in there and that's when the RIAA Licensing Abuse Team drops in. They shoot the unsuspecting pre-teens with some tranq-darts and drag them off to some warehouse full of "criminals" in an induced pseudo comma state, never to be heard from again.
1) Put phone in vibrate mode.
2) Put phone in your pocket.
3) Stop being an annoying ass with your dumass ringtones.
nuff said!
These people are insane... why aren't they simply ignored? Oh, right... they bribe our politicians, and sometimes even write the actual laws they want passed -- God bless Word(TM) meta-data.
Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken - Tyler Durden
There is a sucker born every minute.
sulli
RTFJ.
I don't know the whole situation with ringtones in the US, even though I live here, as I hate cellphones quite a bit, but I can definitely say that I've been hearing irritating pop music ringtones for at least a year.
The point of the article isn't that you can get a pop-music ringtone, it's that you can get a pop-music ringtone without paying the RIAA, which pisses the greedy bastards off.
> UID of 778K+ and you're already sick of the attitude? Whoa, that's whacked..
I recycle regularly, it's more fun that way.
I agree, there's so many people pissing and moaning about ringtones... Is this a site for geeks or grumpy old men? "Turn that music down!!! You damn kids and your pop tunes are making my ears bleed!"
If you want to be a stick in the mud and people's choice of ringtones really bothers you, don't go out in public. There's always a chance in public you'll hear or see something you find offensive. Two guys might be holding hands, someone might say "fuck", you may hear a 30-second midi rendition of a pop song's chorus. The shock, the horror.
I choose to use ringtones because it's entertaining TO ME and it's not the same old "beep beep beep". If that really bothers you that much, don't worry - you're not someone I'd want to associate with anyway.
---
DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
the law doesnt protect your ideology.
it protect MINE.
i can use it multiple ways, the laws protect that.
that laws DO NOT PROTECT the idea of having to pay multiple times for multiple uses.
its quite simple.
you are right though, no one forces you to buy those extra licenses, because you just dont have to own them to do those things.