Free ringtones or paid ringtones: Which is which?
In the past, you could only expect your mobile phone to beep with a beep that was just like a million other beeps out there. Having the same beep sound, this lead to some confusion as to whose mobile phone was really beeping when and where. Thus, someone came up with the bright idea of using ringtones to tell the owner or user of the mobile phone when someone wanted to call him or text him. This is the main reason ringtones were created: they were designed to literally ring when a call or text was coming in.
But ringtones have evolved into being more than just an early warning device when a call or text was sent to your mobile phone. Nowadays, people get ringtones also as part of their personal expression of their personality, their individuality, and as a status symbol.
But is it better to get free ringtones than to pay up front for ringtones? It depends how badly you want a particular ringtone actually. Free ringtones tend to be offered to the masses, perhaps to help promote the song being played or a product and/or service. Ringtones that you pay for, though costly, tend to be of a special kind which is why some people want the for-pay kind because not everyone can have these.
Fortunately, it is possible to get free ringtones of some mp3 file- or CD-based song that you already own. For this, you need to have a way of transferring the song from your CD or mp3 player into the cell phone. Some common systems for song transfer are instant message, email, Bluetooth, and USB though others may also exist nowadays. You might also want to look into audio-editing software which permits export to the mp3 format.
An open-source audio-editing software that can be downloaded at no charge is Audacity. Audacity is compatible with Linux, Mac and Windows. To make Audacity work so that the software can encode into mp3 format, you will also need the mp3 codec LAME library geared for Linux, Mac and Windows usage. LAME is classified as mp3 compression software which is top notch as far as recording fidelity is concerned. At present, LAME comes free of charge because it carries a legal exemption from any patent royalties for the mp3 files. However, this does not mean LAME will be free of charge forever so enjoy using it while it is still available at no charge.
The good thing about free cell phones ringtones is that some of the famous songs can be converted to ringtones. More so, ringtone maker may promote the best selling music as either free polyphonic ringtones or can be download free ringtones, whichever your mobile phone supports. Hence, whichever popular song you do wind up using as your free ringtone, make sure that you don’t step on any copyright issues lying in the way. Some artists are very sensitive about who gets to use their songs so always inquire closely as to whether your source has permission from the artists and their music labels to get to use the songs in question.