Starting next month, you can get your fill of ringles in major stores like Wal-Mart, Target, and Best Buy. Brainstormed by Sony, the ringle is a sort of souped-up CD single—”one hit and maybe one remix and an older track—and one ringtone, on a CD with a slip-sleeve cover.” Sony BMG will release 50 titles in October and November, while Universal will release 10 to 20. Each ringle will cost between $5.98 and $6.98. (Wanna bet which price point the labels will go for?)

Nobody knows why anyone thought “ringle” was a good name for a consumer entertainment product that’s supposed to appeal on a basic emotional level to the youth market, but it’s already been approved by the RIAA and there’s an industry-wide logo “to help brand it.” Then again, other questionable names like “iPod” and “Wii” have turned out okay, so go figure. We also wonder whether, this being Sony, they’ll do something horrible to the product to dissuade piracy, like lacing the sleeves with razor wire or smashing the discs to pieces before shipping them off to stores.

Oh, and please marvel at our awesome Photoshopping skillz.

“Music industry betting on ‘ringle’ format” [Reuters]
(Original photo from Leonid Mamchenkov)

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