As part of Apple’s effort to rectify the shortcomings of its iPhone, the company has approached major music labels to try to expand the variety of ringtones and other musical features available on the device, according to several executives at the record companies. The negotiations are very active and a final deal has not been reached, said the executives, who requested anonymity so as not to disrupt the talks.

“They want a big launch in June,” said one label executive familiar with the talks. That executive said a deal might come after June 9, when Apple’s chief executive, Steve Jobs, speaks at the company’s developers’ conference, a logical moment for the introduction of the next generation of iPhone. An Apple spokesman declined to comment.

Ringtones are a very profitable corner of the music business considering the price for a short segment of a song is higher than for the full song. In the United States, for instance,

Apple offers ringtones as a 99-cent upgrade to its regular 99-cent music tracks, but not all tracks can be converted into ringtones. Apple is looking to expand its stock, the executives said.

The company is plus hoping to add reply tones, additionally known as ring-back tones — songs that a caller hears instead of the “ring ring” sound while waiting for someone to reply. In some cases, these command an even higher wholesale price from the record labels than ringtones do.

additionally under discussion is whether Apple can sell songs from its iTunes Store directly to iPhones using new, faster mobile broadband networks, supplementing current sales by Wi-Fi and fixed World Wide Web connections. The next generation of phones is expected to use so- called third generation, or 3G, technology, which has distant permitted mobile song downloads in Europe and Asia. Here, too, music labels argue that they should…

Orginal post by Top Tech News