... As, on the high street, Universal picks first pocket CD singles.(News)

Sixteen Universal titles are to hit selected retail shelves next month in the first trial of the major's new pocket CD format.

Black Eyed Peas, Busted and Keane will figure among the inaugural batch of releases being released on the three-inch disc, which will uniquely combine the hit recording of the song with a code giving access to its official ringtone. The format is expected to retail at around the 3.99 [pounds sterling] mark, although full pricing details have yet to be confirmed.

Universal, which has been developing the concept for a UK launch since back last summer, hopes the format will breath new life into a singles market which followed a 30.7% fall in unit shipments last year with a further 14.6% drop in the first quarter of this year. Value in the quarter fell by an even sharper 29.7%.

Universal sales director Brian Rose says Universal decided to get behind the format following industry-backed consumer research last year into the singles market in which it was suggested the pocket CD would be "well received". "We believe this is the best way to put some value and excitement back into the market," he says. "Ringtones is a growing business and kids are buying the ringtones in some cases more than the physical format."

The release of the first such titles in the UK on July 12 follows the success of such discs in both France and Germany and despite the fact current Official Charts Company rules make them chart-ineligible, a lack of concrete support from other record companies and hesitation from some retail quarters.

However, Rose says Universal felt it could not wait any longer because of current conditions in the singles market, ...