Apple adds iPhone ringtones to iTunes

A new version of iTunes supporting custom ringtones for the iPhone ships this evening. They'll run 99 cents on top of the cost of the song, but in trade, you'll be able to make your own custom ringtone from the song. They can run up to 30 seconds in length, denoted by bells that appear next to "ringtoneable" songs -- which'll be 500,000 of 'em at launch. Apple flips the switch to enable the feature "next week."

[pinsleric @ Sep 5th 2007 1:09PM]

not bad, not bad... still cheaper than ATT's ringtones, AND you get the song from itunes, so I have to say i prefer this

[Alan Partridge @ Sep 5th 2007 1:16PM]

I prefer the system availible on virtually every phone made from 2003 onwards, where you can select any mp3 as your ringtone/message tone.

[LordJohnWhorfin @ Sep 5th 2007 1:14PM]

You can already make your ringtones for free, why would you want to pay an extra $0.99 to make a ringtone out of a song you already own? That's ridiculous.

[Argot @ Sep 5th 2007 1:16PM]

Blasphemy!

[randy @ Sep 5th 2007 1:40PM]

Exactly. Do people still fall or these marketing gimmicks?

It is NOT ILLEGAL to play a song I ALREADY OWN as a ringtone. Just as it is NOT illegal to have my stereo playing that song while I walk across the room to answer the telephone.

[wyseguy @ Sep 5th 2007 3:20PM]

"It is NOT ILLEGAL to play a song I ALREADY OWN as a ringtone. Just as it is NOT illegal to have my stereo playing that song while I walk across the room to answer the telephone."

Actually, it is illegal (or at least was a few days). http://www.apple.com/legal/itunes/us/service.html

iTunes Store
TERMS OF SERVICE
9. Purchase of Apple Content
b. Use of Products
(viii) You may not use Products as a musical “ringer” in connection with phone calls.

Other online music stores, such as WalMart's, also expressly forbid making ringtones out of the tracks they offer as well:
http://musicdownloads.walmart.com/catalog/servlet/EulaServlet

[daaper @ Sep 5th 2007 3:24PM]

Is that a rhetorical question? Or do you really want me to say, "yes, people still fall for these gimmicks."?

[LordJohnWhorfin @ Sep 5th 2007 3:32PM]

It's against the terms of service, that doesn't make it illegal. Besides, you can make a ringtone out of a track you ripped from a CD you own, and that's perfectly legal as well. If anything is or ought to be illegal, it's those abusively restrictive "EULAs"

[randy @ Sep 5th 2007 5:03PM]

LOL, those "Terms of Service" apply only to your purchase from the iTunes store. They are terms of service you must agree before you can conduct your 'iTunes Store' purchase. Ergo, they no longer apply AFTER the purchase has been made, whereupon Apple's service to you has terminated.

In short: They are terms of service, not terms of ownership.

That notwithstanding:

1) Who said anything about buying Apple's file to begin with. I don't shop there.

1) Who said anything about "Making a Ringtone"? Sorry, I'm just playing my song on my stereo, not "making a ringtone". Nor am I "using it as a ringer." The fact that I have programmed my stereo (the music player embedded in the telephone) to play MY song as I walk across the room to pick up MY telephone is of no consequence to the seller (Apple). Apple's 'iTunes Store' terms of service to not dictate blackout periods where I am prohibited from playing a song.


Folks: WHEN YOU BUY SOMETHING, YOU OWN IT. These misc. 'terms of service" no longer apply. NOR can anybody who has SOLD you artwork dictate to you when you are allowed to view or listen to it.

[D.F. Coughlin @ Sep 24th 2007 1:41PM]

I hate to interject a lot of legalese here but too many people are missing the nuts and bolts of how the laws protecting intellectual property work in this country. To begin with, let me first say that I am dead set against rigid copy protection schemes for music and the like. I went for about 20 years without buying much in the way of albums and CD's. What has changed for me in the last 10 years or so is the availability of digital music. I have spent more for music in the last 10 years than in the previous 30 years of my adult life (yes, I'm that old). I think the music companies missed the boat on a major opportunity to significantly expand their money-spending audience over rabid fear of a minority who would refuse to pay. That said, musical works are protected by federal copyright statutes. Buying a song, whether on a CD or from a legal download site, is not the same as buying a loaf of bread. With the bread, you can pretty much do antything you want with it, even possibly reverse engineering it to see whatr makes it taste good. The same does not apply to songs. Every time someone plays a song in public (other than for private, personal use) they need to have the permission of the individuals who own the rights to that song. Radio stations regularly pay royalties to ASCAP and other music licensing services based on how many times they play songs covered by that service. A share of these royalties go to the artists owning the song rights. The copyrights in musical works are best thought of as a complex bundle of rights, not all of which may be owned by the same individuals, that extend to many aspects or layers of the creative work. These include the words, the melody, the vocal performance, the instrumental arrangement, etc. It can also include use of a song recording as a ringtone. If someone sells you a "license" to the rights to play a song for your personal enjoyment, that does not mean that you have the right to use that song as background music for a TV commercial or a theme song for a TV show, or as Musak played in your retail store to improve the store's ambience for shoppers. It may not mean that you can electronically manipulate the sound recording for an alternate purpose, at least not without acknowledging in some way ($$) the initial artist. No two musicians play the same siong the same way and each individual performance can crreate additional rights for the performer. Despite those new rights, you still need the permission of the original artist. Anyone who has heard a symphony orchestra play a Beatles tune recognizes that, but the orchestra must still get permission from the Beatles, or Apple Records, or maybe Michael Jackson, for their new, and admittedly creative, performance. In this vein, the ring tone you create may be the source of original rights to you such that no one else could use your clip as a ringtone without acknowledging your creative rights. That said, I feel that Apple's paranoia here could easily lead to significant backlash. Apple should relax and let people have fun with their iPhones. It will just lead to more people wanting to buy iPhones and, inevitably, to more profit for Apple. Ring on!

[eric @ Sep 5th 2007 1:15PM]

yawn... you can do this - FOR FREE - with iToner

[Nick @ Sep 5th 2007 2:53PM]

Its not Free if you pay $15 for the software. At that rate.. it'll cost me less to do it Apples way if I only want 1 or 2 ringtones

[roc ingersol @ Sep 5th 2007 1:16PM]

Shameful.

paying another dollar to use a fragment of a song you -already- purchased the rights to is absurd.

[Nick @ Sep 5th 2007 2:49PM]

logic would say $1 for full song... and fragment of that cost for fragment of song.. but i guess not.

[Admiral @ Sep 5th 2007 1:16PM]

Eh? $1 on top of the song cost?
Thanks, but not thanks.

[JimJimBinks @ Sep 5th 2007 1:22PM]

Thanks, but I'll look for a PC app that'll allow me to do this free for my iPhone. Paying 99 cents for a 30 second or less clip of a song I've already paid 99 cents for really doesn't make much sense to me.

[Brian @ Sep 5th 2007 1:23PM]

That's crap. Let us do it with any mp3. Bad move.

[luddz @ Sep 5th 2007 1:27PM]

ok great, but what the fuck happended to unlocking the phone, engadget?

[xbit @ Sep 5th 2007 1:36PM]

Now that Apple have locked you into a 2-year contract, prepare to be ass-raped!

[randy @ Sep 5th 2007 1:37PM]

A DOLLAR for a ringtone version of a track I already own as a full track? No thanks. I'll use iFuntastic.

It is NOT ILLEGAL to play a sog I ALREADY OWN as a ringtone. Just as it is NOT illegal to have my stereo playing that song while I walk across the room to answer a telephone.

[randy @ Sep 5th 2007 1:42PM]

engadget, you need to turn your caching off

[Ted @ Sep 5th 2007 1:40PM]

too funny! what a stupid announcement by apple.

$0.99 for a ringtone! OMG WHAT GREAT NEWS!

[Glen @ Sep 5th 2007 1:46PM]

I've never wanted to use a commercial song as a ring tone...I've always made my own ring tones from recordings I've made (not music) because loading the latest crud from whoever is not making your phone your own. It's following the freaking herd and doesn't take any creativity. Apple, come up with a way for me to put my own clever and creative ring tones on the phone!

[TehDesertSessions @ Sep 5th 2007 1:49PM]

Okay okay, sure we can all put ringtones on our iphones for free right now, I do it all the time. But what about those people who would rather not have to go through that crap just for a damn ringtone? I know plenty of people who are just way too computer illiterate to even set up an email account, much less put ringtones on their iphone through a "hack".

So, if your one of those people who know how....Great, good for you. You don't need to pay the 99 cents that you were gonna go buy a bag of cheetos with.

And for those who don't have the know nor tiny bit of patience? Sweet, new ringtones at a cheap price of 99 cents. Enjoy you computer illiterate human you.

[Nathan @ Sep 5th 2007 3:14PM]

Eh I agree with you. I know a few people that have an iPhone and want custom ringtones, but don't want to hack it and void the warranty. I like Apple's system of ringtones better than the default carrier ringtones. Hopefully they'll have a good selection of songs in that 500,000 ringtone list. $1.99 for a song AND a customized ringtone isn't bad at all compared to those who buy them from AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, etc etc.

[Mark @ Sep 5th 2007 1:55PM]

Thanks but I'll stick to the free mp3 ringtones I make for my Blackberry, using Audacity to edit the music I already own.

[Blake @ Sep 5th 2007 2:08PM]

A$$le

[Joe P @ Sep 5th 2007 2:29PM]

Luckily enough I can make ringtones for free... and that's a standard feature with my phone, no hacking required.

[jps @ Sep 5th 2007 2:31PM]

Makes sense; the only revenue the music industry makes any more is off of ringtones. Apple probably won't do much to squelch you making your own, thus both the industry and you (the geek) remain happy.

I'd make the argument that the REAL news here is the partnership with the record label of tomorrow, Starbucks. Once more efficient labels like them are running the show as opposed to Universal et al, they'll be able to make enough money selling the song to you once as opposed to twice.

[carson @ Sep 5th 2007 2:42PM]

I can't understand everyones bitching, if you know how to make ringtones make them from what you have, if you don't know how.....its .99

Why is this wrong? The world revolves around people doing things you don't know how to do for money. fix your fridge, or pay someone for fix it.

Still cheaper than any cellular provider i can think of....

C.

[CaptSaltyJack @ Sep 5th 2007 2:46PM]

Yeah, 0.99 is cheaper than most cell providers, BUT you're not considering the fact that we already paid 0.99 for the song! So Apple is asking us to pay 100% of the song price for a stupid 30 second clip of it!!

Ridiculous, Apple should be ashamed.

[Alberto @ Sep 6th 2007 1:14AM]

Carson, I agree with you. If you don;t know how to do something you pa someone to do it for you. Something here. Apple knows that the computer dumb population is way much greater then the geeks that can do these things themselves. So Apple makes a software that is idiot proof for that not so computer samrt market. Think about it, someone gotta pay for that software, so might as well be you guys.

There are many free wave/track editors for PC and a few for Mac to download for years now. So there's no excuse to complain like a little girl. Don;t want to pay. learn to do it yourself.

[gizzle_8 @ Sep 5th 2007 3:41PM]

heck its not going to have songs from universal artists, I will stick with iPhoneRingToneMaker.

[tj @ Sep 5th 2007 3:44PM]

is this only for incoming calls?? or can you use them for texts,calander events etc.....

[kL @ Sep 5th 2007 3:56PM]

Sounds very much like MAFIAA. It's their "Buy two, get one" kind of promotion.

[PrimitiveWallflower @ Sep 5th 2007 4:52PM]

It's worth $1.98 to me not to hack my iPhone and thus not have to sit there sweating in anxiety every time Apple releases a software update. Of course, ON PRINCIPLE I shouldn't HAVE to pay money to make a song I already own a ringtone, but I'm just saying it's still worth the money to me.

[CapWKidd @ Sep 5th 2007 7:52PM]

Ok, it's clear apple is charges this fee for itunes store ring tones, but it does not appear clear wether or not you will be able to make ring tones from your ripped songs.... perhaps itunes will have this feature, so those of us that never buy from the itunes store, will be able to use itunes to make ring tones..... I guess we will know soon enough, eh?

[James @ Sep 5th 2007 8:37PM]

HAHAHAHAH!!! Enjoy your walled garden, bitches.


Oh, and those of you that paid twice as much as you had to to get your iPhone a month early -- how's that workin' for ya?

[maikel @ Sep 5th 2007 11:01PM]

This is a good thing. I like that I get to customize my songs for the same price I’d have to pay for a default precut ring tone.
But I guess $1.98 is better than $2.49 though.

[jbelkin @ Sep 5th 2007 11:18PM]

In case you never bought a new car, the minute you drive off the lot, it drops about $5-$10,000 thousand the FIRST WEEK. I bought an iphone for $99 on July 2 and think it's worth every penny. If they had dropped the price the week after I bought, I would complain but now months later, who cares - I've spent that much buying fertilizer for the plants so after you graduate from college, you'll see - what's $200 when you get max use out of something. But hey, it's not for everyone, you either can't afford it or don't need to talk-chat-email-internet, it all depends on connected you need to be so if it's right, whether it's $2k or $600, it's right.

[Alberto @ Sep 6th 2007 1:00AM]

Actually, it is illegal to use music you brought and manipulate it as a ringtone. Doesn't matter how you got it...cd, itunes, or your Aunt Betty's collection. You can not manipulate in any form or use the "art" in any other format then it was originally intended for. That applies for music, stock photography, Movies, TV shows,etc. You get the point. Truth is no one has made it a big deal till everything went digital, cause now its easily accessible to everyone around the world. That's money these companies are not making. Am a artist so i now this law well.

Now it doesn't mean the law is fair. I personally think it's not. I think if a person buys a song, they have the right to use it as they seem fit for their PERSONAL use only. Well think about it...who's going to enforce it. Plus, what company has the balls to denie customization to their customers.

Really, i think the 99 cent subchange to make ringtones is to help pay for the software and service. All this cost millions of dollars per year. You think Apple is going to flip that bill. I don't think so.

Last, iToner. I think that's a great piece of software. A lot of you may think $15 is too much and Apple's solution is a lot cheaper. Well, i don't want to use music for my ringtones. I got over 200 contacts. In which around 60 of those contacts call me at one point during a week's time. With I toner i can use any mp3 file. I like to use recordings of my assistant's voice saying the name of each contact. She got a sexy voice. itoner enable me to do that, when Apple doesn't let me. itoner cost me $15 when apple will cost me $60 to $120. Plus I don't get what I want.

[D W @ Sep 7th 2007 11:55AM]

My understanding is that it's no illegal, since it comes under "fair use", provided you own a legal copy - how you play it is up to you. Since Apple provided us the ability to rip the audio to a CD, if you re-import it, then it's fair game.

I find it ironic that people didn't know that iTunes could do this already! Open "Get Info" on the unencrypted song, click on the Option tab, enter the start and end times, and then convert selection to MP3 (Note: You do have to set MP3 as the default encoder (via preferences) first). Now transfer the resulting file to your phone...

[Alberto @ Sep 7th 2007 5:18PM]

Your right, but "fair use" has it's limits depending who's interpreting the law. Cause when your in court, you will be in court with the record label not Apple.

You can make "backups" and yes the way you play it is up to you. But if you use it as a ringtone...you have change it's original purpose which is to play as music. Goodness, even the copyright office is careful with defining "fair use". LOL But like I said before, it depends who;s interpreting the law.

Your way is one way, but I have tried that before and found out it only works within the itune software. Once I rip it to a cd, my changes are gone and the music to its original form. I may have done it wrong too.

But really there are over 20 ways at making ringtones. The problem is adding them to the iphone and it sticking every time Apple has a update for the iphone.

[David Koh @ Sep 6th 2007 3:10AM]

Um....wouldnt it be better to just use a freeware like IFuntastic?

[Alberto @ Sep 6th 2007 3:46AM]

Didn't know about ifantastic. Either way, you prove my point...you don't need Apple or pay them to customize your iphone. There are solutions out there.

[Brad @ Sep 6th 2007 10:17AM]

I have the right to play my iTunes purchased songs for personal use and (if I wanted to) I could manually turn on my iPod, scroll to a song, and press the play button every time I hear my phone ring (or vibrate). I refuse to pay an additional dollar per song for the 'right' to have a computer do it for me.

This is bad business Apple... you were so close to making legal downloads simpler and easier than stealing. Now, you're just pissing people off.

[pinsleric @ Sep 10th 2007 10:48PM]

hmm... it seems as though some ringtones are showing up in the store, but when you buy them you can't actually make them into ringtones yet

[subr_jag-renie @ Sep 12th 2007 12:11AM]

Does anyone have the list of songs for the iphone from itunes i clicked on it but it did not show me what songs were available for the phone?