Music Ringtones FAQ

• What are music ringtones?
• What are the different types of music ringtones?
• How can I get music ringtones?
• Which music ringtones can be played on my phone?

What are music ringtones?

When your home phone or mobile phone receives an incoming call, you hear a standard ring. That’s referred to as a ringtone. With a cell phone, you can change that ring to any type of music. A music ringtone is generally a short excerpt from a longer song. People also download and make free ringtones of comedians, sound effects, and other audio.

You can assign music clips for your callers to hear too. Instead of ringtones, these clips are called ringbacks or callbacks. You can set them to play whenever a specific caller or group of callers tries to reach you.

What are the different types of music ringtones?

The three main types of music ringtones are monophonic, polyphonic, and MP3.  Some mobile phone companies specially brand their MP3s, so sometimes you’ll need to look for another name. AT&T, for example, calls its MP3s “Music Tones”. Most ringtone websites can easily identify which of these music ringtone formats are compatible with your phone model.

The simplest mobile phone ringtones are monophonic. These play one note at a time; they beep tunes that are reminiscent of 1980s computer games. Nowadays, most cell phones are capable of playing not only monophonic ringtones, but also polyphonic rings. Polyphonic ringtones can play up to 128 tones at once. If played on a well-equipped cell phone, the synthesized music of a polyphonic ringtone approaches CD quality.

Polyphonic ringtones are the most popular ringtone technology today. Although they are a step behind MP3s or TrueTone technology, they provide adequate sound quality for most users. Many phones, and especially those that are free with a phone service contract, are limited to polyphonic technology. This is because MP3-capable phones require more battery power and storage capacity.

MP3 ringtones — which are also known as TrueTones, mastertones, realtones, and superphonic ringtones – are actually audio recordings rather than synthesized music. MP3 music ringtones tend to be the most desired, but they often cost more than other ringtones and cannot be played on all mobile phones.

How can I get music ringtones?

All types of ringtones can easily be downloaded for free or for a small fee. With a bit more effort, you can make your own music ringtones online, with your own computer software, or with a ringtone composer.

1. Determine your file transfer method(s).

To begin, you’ll need to determine which methods of file transfer are compatible with your phone. The majority of mobile phones can receive music ringtones over the air (OTA). This means that when you visit a ringtone website, you can simply enter your phone number and have the ringtone file sent to you via text massage attachment or as a link.

However, certain cell phone manufacturers have blocked this feature. Motorola, for example, doesn’t allow over-the-air transfers on most combination walkie-talkie/cellphone devices used with Nextel. Many of these phones can still receive files via a serial cable, memory card, or other means.

What else should you consider? Although OTA is perhaps the easiest method of transferring files, users can sometimes incur fees. Even if a ringtone is given away for free, a cell phone company may charge a data transfer fee. To avoid these fees, some people only transfer music ringtones via a cable or another alternative that avoids the internet.

To find out which music ringtone transfer methods are available on your phone, check out another article on our site, consult your phone manual, or find tips from other users online. Other users may have devised file transfer methods that the manufacturer doesn’t mention.

2. Go!

• If you’ve decided to check out music ringtone websites, try Myxer.com or another ringtone website mentioned in our article Downloading Ringtones.
• If you’ll be making ringtones offline, read about different methods in our article “How to Make Ringtones”.

Which music ringtones can be played on my phone?

The major mobile phone companies publish lists of their phone models and compatible ringtone formats online. Also, their own ringtone stores help filter out files that are irrelevant to a user’s phone type. At AT&T’s MediaMall, for example, ringtone menus may automatically be modified after a user enters his or her cell phone model. Many free ringtone websites also have this search feature.

Additionally, Funtonia.com and other music ringtone sites let potential customers test their phone numbers for compatibility with different file types.