Sony BMG and Universal To Release “Ringles”

I admit that I am still a huge fan of the audio CD, but the fact is, it’s a dying breed, especially in an age when downloading a track you want can be done in under a minute. The record industry also realizes this, so to spice up holiday sales, they plan to release “Ringles”. Essentially, these would be similar to CD singles, another product that is dying off rather quickly. The Ringle would feature a popular artists hit track, an older track, perhaps a remix track and also a ringtone. The average price would be between $5.98 and $6.98.

I’m up for new ideas, but this one seems hilarious at best. It’s almost as humorous as the picture below. First, these Ringles are not going to be cheap. $6.00 is the minimum price, meaning that each track and the ringtone would be $1.50 each… according to simple math. That’s far from inexpensive, considering that one track will be older and another a remix. Coupled with the fact that the same hit song most people will be after will cost $0.99 on most music e-tailer sites, and the ringtone at around $2.00 – $3.00. Sounds like a unique idea, but it comes off as being more of a novelty than anything. The record industry is going to have to try harder.

Universal Music Group and the major labels are about to begin rolling out something called a “RINGLE.” You know, like a single? Except this will be 3 songs packaged together with a ringtone and wallpaper image for your cell phone. The truly idiotic part? These will be physical shipped goods that will be stocked in retailers across the country. Wal-Mart and Best Buy have already jumped on board to start carrying RINGLES.

Source: Boy Genius Report