ringtone maker Article

Are Free Ringtones Really Free?
By Marc Ilgen
Ringtone advertisements are everywhere these days. This is not surprising, given the fact that everyone seems to have a cellphone. With such a omnipresent device, people want to personalize their mobile phone to the best of their abilities. And of course, having a big set of is the best way to do this.


Furthermore are definitely not the only way to customimze a cellphone. People can get wallpapers, or images that serve the purpose of background images for the display on their device. With newer cellphones using faster processors, mobile games have also become a popular addition to many cellphone models. So, now you can do lots more with your cellphone. These devices are now often used as an expression of the style and personality of the person that owns the cellphone.

Many companies have jumped into the ringtone market hoping to profit from this desire for self expression. Even the carriers themselves are now selling to their subscribers. The carriers and many other firms use a fairly standard business model for providing these - the user pays a fee of between one and three dollars per ringtone in order to buy and download the ringtone.

But some companies seem to suggest that you can get free through them. The ads tell potential customers to enter their phone number

and they will be able to download some number of free ringtones. Is this the real story? Well, sometimes yes and sometime no.

Look carefully at the small print. In most ads, by entering the phone number you are also agreeing to pay for a ringtone subscription plan that costs around ten dollars per month. This subscription plan gives you a certain number of credits to spend every month on and wallpapers. By signing up, you do indeed get some number of extra credits for some extra ringtones. So to some extent these are free ringtones, but you only get the free ones by signing up for a somewhat costly monthly service.

So what can you do instead? There are some companies that provide software tools that allow you to create your own from your own set of CDs or MP3 files. A package like this will also let you use your own digital pictures to create custom wallpapers for your phone. If you are skilled in computer usage and are able to spend some time doing this, then this can be a good choice.

But if this too much of your time, there are other services that give you unlimited ringtone downloads for a flat fee. Usually these services are much less expensive than those services that deceptively advertise free ringtones. So it usually makes lots of sense to research ringtone deals fairly extensively before jumping in.
Marc Ilgen is an expert in cellphone technology. His website www.kewlcell.com discusses unlimited ringtone download programs in more detail. For an original version of this and other articles related to this topic, see cellphone articles.