"Ringles" Set to Save Music CDs — No, Really

Unveiled today to peals of derisive laughter, the "ringle"—or singles bundled with ringtones—is the music industry's latest attempt to revive fading CD sales. Can you feel the excitement?

First reported by The Boy Genius Report and hitting the major newswires today, the "ringle" is possibly the goofiest idea yet from the music industry, beating out even CD View Plus, the last big thing that was going to save CDs. (What, you don't remember CD View Plus? Oh, right—I forgot about it, too.)

Anyway, here's the deal: according to Reuters, a "ringle" is a bundle of a three songs—a chart-topper, a remix, and (maybe) an oldie-but-goodie—plus a ringtone, and you'll get 'em all on a CD with an eye-catching slip cover at your local music retailer (you know, the ones that used to be in physical structures). Ringles will be priced at either $5.98 or $6.98, compared to, say, three 99-cent iTunes tracks and a 99-cent iPhone ringtone for a total of...$3.96. Did, uh, someone skip math class or something?

I'm sure there's a marketing report somewhere that makes a logical, cohesive argument as to why ringles are a great idea, so I'm not even going to try to figure out what the music execs were thinking. More absurd to me than the actual idea is that in 2007, a full decade into the music and video download revolution, the big music labels are still grimly holding onto (and wasting resources on) the physical CD, a once-proud format whose time has come and gone. Trust me, people—there's money to be made in digital music, even the DRM-free variety. And to the labels—like EMI and Universal Music—that are trying something new and forward-thinking like DRM-free music, my hat's off to you. But these "let's lure consumers into buying CDs again" initiatives...they are, collectively and individually, a waste of everybody's time. Let's move on.

Related:
Music industry betting on 'ringle' format [Yahoo! News]