Cingular convinces bands to release songs as ringtones before singles

Usually people like to, you know, actually know a song before they'll drop $2.49 on a ringtone, but Cingular is flipping things around a bit, and have cut a deal with several different artists to get them to release their new songs as ringtones before they hit radio. First up is Coldplay, you'll be able to get their new song "Speed of Sound" as a ringtone six days before it gets played on the radio and a couple of months before their new album comes out in June. Probably not a bad little experiment, especially given how much money the record labels are making off of ringtones these days (inexplicably, people will pay more for a 30-second ringtone of a song than they'll pay for the song itself).