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Now We Just Have To Sell 2.7 Billion Of These
from the ring-ring-cha-ching dept
We noted soon after the eBay purchase that part of Skype's grand plan was to sell users ringtones and wallpaper for their software clients. Skype's convinced Warner Music that this is a good idea, and will begin selling ringtones of Warner artists for $1.50 each. Of course, Warner is the label that thinks by making mobile phone ringtones even shorter, and giving them a new name, they'll be able to charge even more for it. We've talked about how the price of ringtones on mobile phones isn't necessarily comparable to the price of full-track downloads, since downloads are about entertainment, while ringtones are about self-expression and personalization. It's one thing to make that comparison on the mobile phone, but when people already have a bunch of mp3s on their computer, why not just make it easy for them to use those for ringtones? Or sell them a full-track download that includes a ringtone? Maybe that would be worth a 50-cent premium over the going rate for song downloads. In any case, if this is how eBay plans to make back the $4.1 billion they're spending on Skype, they'd better get back to the drawing board.
Reader Comments
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ring tones
one question... WHY?
bells work fine
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No Subject Given
love music, love technology, have yet to buy a ring tone for my phone.
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Anyone hear of marketing research?
I'd place a large wager that the average age of a ringtone purchaser and the average age of an ebay seller are about a decade apart.
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Re: Anyone hear of marketing research?
You hit the nail right on the head with this one.
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Not a loss-maker?
Apple have already commented that the price of a track on iTunes is less than the price they are charged for the song, and that iTunes is simply a platform for selling iPod's which more than make up for the loss on iTunes.
As cellcos in the UK give away free phones with contracts, and I therefore assume that's what they do in the US, I doubt they'd want to make selling ringtones a loss-maker, so perhaps the $1.50 price tag is purely a business figure in order to profit from their sale rather than lose money as Apple do, as they don't have any particular profit-making gadget to shift (as the cellcos aren't responsible for the manufacture or profit generated from the sale of mobile phones)
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People do buy
Ther thing about this is that they just may make their money back because people do buy ringtones by the bunch. In the UK you cannot watch MTV without seeing at least 20 Ringtone commercials in a half hour show.
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People do buy
The thing about this is that they just may make their money back because people do buy ringtones by the bunch. In the UK you cannot watch MTV without seeing at least 20 Ringtone commercials in a half hour show.
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Re: People do buy
no one buys ringtones anymore. all the new phones play mp3s. Duh! anyone can make anything a ringtone. why would anybody buy one?
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Re: People do buy
I agree, ever since I got a phone that connects to my computer, I'd much rather make my own. There's an awesome freeware called Audacity from SourceForge, and it allows you to split apart, splice, and add effects to any song. This makes for the perfect ringtone!
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No Subject Given
Why don't more phone manufactures ditch proprietory cabling and follow motorola's lead by enabling customers to connect a standard 4 or 5 pin usb cable to their computer and transfer whatever they want, whenever they want, free of cost?
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No Subject Given
I make my own ring tones. I have the Family Guy theme song ready to load on my Motorola but alas I have lost my data cable. It's a perfect 30 seconds long.
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Read between the lines
First off, I read techdirt daily, but ultimately, when even Om lets go of the Skype vitriol...
Here's the deal, Skype working with TW is a clear indication of several things. 1) Fortune 1000 companies are clearly not shy working with Skype 2) if this has any pickup, could TW extend this to sell other media on the largest legal p2p network currently used?
Imagine if Voice Communications was just a great lead-in for establishing a global legal p2p distribution channel for data. If I can buy ring tones, could I buy music or videos or software or any other online media? What if all those purchases went through Paypal? Is that worth $2.6B?
Skype is generating $100+ revenues from Voice calls alone. The TW deal is just an early indication of whats to come...
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No Subject Given
I don't understand why you guys continuely post these articles about this as if there is no way around it.
Most intelligent users like myself just use a USB wire or BlueTooth to transfer as many mp3's from our computers as we please for free.
Anyone who reads sites like techdirt more than likly is already well aware of the free solutions for transfering mp3s as ringtones to your mobile phone for free as much as you like.
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Re: No Subject Given
I don't understand why you guys continuely post these articles about this as if there is no way around it.
I think you're missing the point of why we're posting them. We know that there are ways around it, and we've pointed that out in the past. The point, though, is what a silly business move this is, not telling people how to get around it.
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Skype
I dont know if too many people know this, but you can make your own ringtone for skype. I make them all the time.
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none
people are always posting things up but never show you or tell you how to do them so if you arent going to do that then dont post anything
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how do you download ringtones using a usb wire
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"selling a ringtone"
okeh lads/lassies..with the understanding that those in the know...can make their own ringtones for free...how does one with a unique ringtone go about selling it to those who aren't in the know..??
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