iTunes' 99c ringy-dingy surcharge

Stephen Withers
Thursday, 06 September 2007 07:56

Your IT - Mobility

Apple's music-related announcements included the use of iTunes-purchased tracks as ringtones - but at a price.

As noted by observant watchers during the iPhone debut presentation, iTunes has been given the ability to extract a portion of a song and transfer it to an iPhone where it can be selected as a ringtone.

The iTunes Store's terms and conditions previously excluded the use of purchased tracks as "ringers", and obtaining this right will cost you another $US0.99.

That's right - you pay 99c for the track, then another 99c to use it as a ringtone. How can Apple and the music companies justify this? They don't need to - too many people have already demonstrated they are prepared to pay stupid prices for ringtones.

"Despite looking like they're standing up for consumers, this buck-a-ringtone shows where Apple's allegiance lays: squarely with its bottom line, not with us," commented an anonymous reader of the popular MacInTouch web site.

According to an Apple press release, iTunes 7.4 - which includes the ringtone facility - is available for download from the company's web site. As of this writing, version 7.3.2 is the most recent available, though that may have changed by the time you read this.

As is often the case, a third-party developer has already made up for Apple's shortcoming. Ambrosia Software's $US15 iToner allows the transfer of any MP3 or AAC audio file to the iPhone for use as a ringtone.