Slashdot Mirror
Music Industry Set To Introduce the "Ringle"
mrneutron2003 writes "The RIAA has officially backed a move by the recording industry to reintroduce the CD single. Populated with three songs and a ringtone, this brilliantly clueless idea is to be marketed as a 'ringle,' complete with an even more clueless retail price of $6-7 per CD. Apart from the fact the industry hasn't agreed on how the ringtone is to be redeemed (Sony BMG, the initial proponent of the idea, is the exception here), the pricing puts it way out of line with legitimate digital music downloads." At $7, retailers would enjoy a profit margin they haven't seen since the days of cassette tapes and vinyl.
Here's a question I'd love to ask the music industry:
How many times must I buy the same music in order to "legally" hear it on any music-playing device I own? (No, I will not tell you what devices they are, nor what formats they can play.)
Do you like Japanese imports?
That's what's wrong with that.
... They are the 3 songs you like. Isn't that the whole point of downloading songs? Getting only the ones you want? This combines the worst of both worlds - high price and no consumer choice. Well, no choice other than not buying them. Which seems in line with the rest of the music industry in general.
Prof. Farnsworth - "Oh a lesson in not changing history from Mr I'm-My-Own-Grandpa!"
One thing hanging over the 'maybe new, maybe not' idea that didn't factor in twenty years ago, is the 'green' factor.
What is the carbon footprint of three songs on a packaged CD versus three songs purchased over the internet? And to bring it into even sharper focus, the CD packaged songs will end up on a player just like the downloads.
Game over, man...
Uh, right . . .
Thanks for that little gem, which helps prove there's not much danger of that ever happening.
The bigotry of the nonbeliever is for me nearly as funny as the bigotry of the believer. - Albert Einstein
"Ringle, ringle, coins how they jingle," Scrooge's lustful song of money and greed.
Quite appropriate name considering...
Well - there's nothing wrong with them trying to sell people stuff. Just because we won't buy it doesn't make it wrong. It just makes it a failed attempt. I'm also starting to wonder why the heck the editors are allowing through these "news" pieces where even the summary is calling people clueless? I mean - "news for nerds" - let US decide what is clueless. News isn't supposed to be so damn slanted, I mean slashed.
...speaking as someone named Ray Ingles.
PHEM - party like it's 1997-2003!
I'm going to invent the Pirated ringtone single
I'll call it a Pringle
Well, back to rejecting software patent applications.
My bet is that people will avoid buying these in droves simply because they can't find a CD slot on their cellphones. Imagine the customer support calls?
New Music!
I am single,
If I buy a ringle,
With me will women mingle ?
or will it be an iPod haiku - ( scene: chic sees guy with iPod )
My Gawd,
An iPod,
Must have a big rod.
WTF ARE THESE IDIOTS THINKING??? That I'm going to spend over NINETY THOUSAND DOLLARS to load up my 160gig iPod?
They must be doing some mighty fine crack, because THAT is pure unadulterated BULLSHIT if they think I'm going to spend even 1/2 of one percent of $80,000 loading up my 160gig iPod, and it certainly isn't going to be spend on ringles...
Good god. What a bunch of losers. Left curve of the IQ bell chart. Morons. Mafiosi. Dead enders. Feh.
RS
Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
Sure, this seems stupid, but consider some consumer behavior I've seen recently:
- A household where every family member has a Mac and an iPod. Family members often buy the same song instead of using sharing because it is "too difficult".
- A household where working computers are thrown out on a yearly basis and replaced with new ones because that's "easier".
- A household where computers with sensitive records are just left out on the curb.
Different households, all fairly affluent, all in the NYC area. So while ringles may be stupid to the Slashdot crowd, they'll sell to the people that are even dumber than the record execs.
For the Record Companies.
Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. - Ambrose Bierce
FTA:
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. The idea is that if consumers in the digital age can download any tracks they want individually, why not let them buy singles in the store as well? It also enables stores to get involved in the ringtone phenomenon.
Wow. Only the recording industry and the government can write contradictions like that and not see the logical fallacy.
Apparently, the industry understands that consumers want their tracks individually, and wants consumers to get their individual tracks from retail outlets. So to facilitate this, they package the individual track with 2 other unwanted songs and a ringtone. Then they double the price of downloading the songs individually and force you to drive to the store?!?!
Wow. That logic is shocking. I just have to repeat it to actually believe that some executive thought this up: Consumers want songs individually, so lets package 3 songs together with a ringtone and double the price!
The person who came up with that idea probably makes more money than everyone who reads this post put together. JSDFKGLHADFYGUHQO@W*%ORILU@#WERLJKC!@%$)*
burrocrisy
and that would be what? Ruling by jackasses? Never has a slashdot misspelling been more apropos
In addition to the "ringle" CD, the following must be included:
1. - A self-destructing DVD, which will auto-destruct after a week, or 3 viewings, whichever comes first.
2. - A Blue-Ray DVD player with a slef-destruct mechanism which activates in case the inserted disk is not deemed "genuine" by the SONY servers (broadband connection required).
3. - An additional CD containing only the mandatory rootkit, without which the 3-song + ringtone CD cannot be played.
4. - A Betamax tape, just for the heck of it.
Well - there's nothing wrong with them trying to sell people stuff. Just because we won't buy it doesn't make it wrong. It just makes it a failed attempt.
One problem is that this failed attempt will inevitably be blamed on piracy. Watch.
If you can get it any cheaper than as part of a 13-CD $150 collection, send me the link and I'll put my money where my mouth is. I've been looking for a copy for months (it is available for piracy though).
My teenage daughter likes to have cool ringtones, and with a freeware utility and a basic audio editor, I can make dozens of custom ringtones from her favorite tunes in just a few minutes. I get points as a cool dad, and I don't have to suffer the indignity of giving Sony or Warners or whichever evil empire an additional dollar. To my great surprise, the homemade element seems to please my daughter rather unlike the ugly sweaters her mom used to knit for her. I don't know if the RIAA deems my handiwork a violation of their property rights, but I sincerely hope so. I've even made myself a ring tone from an old recording of Super Freak by Rick James that I use only for when my wife calls me. It gets a chuckle from the kids in my class.
Years from now, business schools will teach the behavior of the music labels and the RIAA at the turn of the millenium as a case study in the way to kill off an entire industry sector. Musicians will swap stories about how their predecessors had to deal with a business relationship to the labels that was not so different from the ones the coal miners had to suffer under half a century earlier. One difference being that when the coal miners died, at least the company couldn't abuse them any more.
I've gone almost two years without buying a single music recording from anyone but the artist, and my collection is richer than ever. For the classical music and opera that I sometimes enjoy, I simply rip the CDs I can borrow from the excellent collections at the Chicago Public Library and then I use the savings to pay for a pair of season tickets to the Lyric Opera (which is doing La Boheme, La Traviata AND Atomic City by John Adams/Peter Sellars this season).
You are welcome on my lawn.