Not all cell phones, and not all cellular service providers, let you download ringtones for free. Some will only let you use their own ringtones, or require that you use only their service to download ringtones (usually for a fee).
If your cell phone lets you download ringtones from multiple sources, there are many things to consider. First, you need to know which ones are and are not compatible with your phone. Once you are sure that the ringtones are compatible, look at how and why free ringtones are free. Music that is in the public domain-classical music and other music whose copyright has expired-is usually free. Some bands release ringtones from upcoming CDs for free to promote their CDs. Some websites are ad-supported and offer free ringtones to build traffic for the website, since what they can charge their advertisers depends on how many people visit their websites. Some free ringtones of popular music may be bootleg and violate intellectual property rights. And some spyware may offer free ringtones to entice you to download from sites that will capture your personal information and sell it to the highest bidder.
Before you get so excited by the "wide world of ringtones" that you spend a lot of money on a phone that will let you download an infinite number of ringtones for free, look at what other services and cheaper phones will cost you. Think about how many ringtones you might actually want to download, and compare the total costs before you buy.
The availability of ringtones brings a whole new opportunity for creativity into your life. Some phones allow you to compose your own melodies for ringtones. Sometimes this means that you push buttons to create ringtones. Other times the programs are more sophisticated and allow you to create actual music for your ringtones. In some cases, if you know how to compose music with a computer, you can create computer-generated music and transfer it into your cell phone to use for ringtones.
Some musicians have even found a new career in composing ringtones. Downloading ringtones from a ringtones composer is one way to have unique ringtones for your cell phone.
Most people won't go that far in looking for unique ringtones. Such a wide range of ringtones are available for download that for most of us, selecting ringtones and assigning them to different people is as creative as we want to be. Choosing your own ringtones gives you a chance to express your personality - and it also improves the chance that when you're in a group of people, you won't have the same ringtones as anyone else in the room.
Musical ringtones have become so popular that some people are choosing to express their individuality by being "retro." They choose ringtones that sound like….a phone ringing. Instead of music, you can opt for "techno" sounds that mimic telephones of different countries (for example, the "beepbeep…..beepbeep" of English telephones) or represent a continually rising sequence of sounds. Some phones even allow you to choose a voice announcement instead of a musical phone: the cell phone equivalent of "You've Got Mail."
