It's no coincidence that a
Google search for "free ring tones" turns up more than 2 million results.
The market for custom cellular phone music has exploded, much to the
surprise of smarty-pants analysts who never anticipated their popularity.
The free stuff is nice for a start. But teens and rabid music fans are
demanding more. Evidently, it's worth $1 to $5 to millions of users to
have the latest hit announce their incoming calls.
A host of Web sites now offer ring-tone subscriptions, letting consumers
update their mobile ringers daily.
But the U.S. market is still plagued by inconsistencies, compared to
Europe and Japan. Some carriers force you to visit their home Web sites
for ring-tone purchases compatible with your model. And, chances are,
the selections at Nokia.com
aren't going to be as complete as the vast array of independent sites
offering service to Europeans and the Japanese.
If ring tones are paramount in your life, there is a growing list of
options. Depending on the phone model, you can compose your own. Or you
can mix tracks, turning instruments on and off, adding effects and
selecting variations.
Prepaid ring-tone download cards are making their appearance in gas
stations and convenience stores. (But make sure you match the card and
your phone model. Read the fine print.)
And a new class of ring tone is being hatched.
About.com is one of the first Web sites to employ a ring tone artiste,
Martin Plante of Paris, to develop custom mixes just for its visitors.
The Europeans and Japanese are already using their faster cell networks
to load phones with high-quality music in MP3 and other formats. As the
U.S. cellular networks mature, it won't be long until affordable
cellphones are streaming and storing every song your credit card can
handle.
Residential
