Okay, so we all know that you can change the ringtone on your mobile phone by purchasing a ringtone online. In fact, there are an endless number of web sites that will sell you a ringtone or wallpaper (prices vary from $.99 to $2.99 and in most cases will put the charge on your cell phone bill). One thing I have found however is that although I can choose from hundreds of ringtone web sites, most of them are selling the same array of ringtones. So, in my quest to make my mobile phone, and hence, my ringtone unique, I have found myself limited to the same assortment of 100 or so [decent] ringtones.

Alas ? clever software companies have now developed software that will allow you to make your own ringtones ? from your own collection of CDs or MP3s. One such software product is Ringtone Media Studio, developed by Avanquest Software. Ringtone Media Studio actually includes three different studios; the Audio Studio for the creation of ringtones and the Image and Video studios to create mobile wallpapers and videos. Taking the unique-factor one step further, the Audio studio also includes a mixer so you can custom-arrange your ringtone and create something completely unique. With the advent of software such as Ringtone Media Studio, custom mixing of ringtones has become so popular that the term "Ringtone DJ" has been coined. So, has the creation of custom ringtones become an art form? I say most definitely-especially for those creative types; as ringtone creation can be seen as an off-shoot of the art of record spinning. Even for those not-so-creative types, creating ringtones is easy and somewhat addicting (I spent over 3 hours creating ringtones from the 5000+ piece Online Media Library which is included with Ringtone Media Studio). So now that music fans can create their own ringtones from their CDs and MP3 collections, what does this mean to the Music Industry ? which today views ringtones as salvation from their slump in sales?

Ringtones to the music industry mean gravy ? certainly another revenue stream from which they can joyfully tap. But if users can buy software such as Ringtone Media Studio for $19.99, why spend $1.99 or more (according to the Atlantic Record's website, ringtones are $1.99 and up) on just one? Users of course need to buy the song ? heck - they might even buy the whole CD ? before a ringtone can be made, so couldn't it be possible that ringtone creation software could actually increase music sales? I would think that consumers could actually be more compelled to purchase a CD if they have more than just one use for it. In fact, rather than buying a CD and just leaving it in a CD player for weeks, consumers can now transfer it to their PC, transfer it to their portable music player and now even make ringtones. Cool! Perhaps the music industry should embrace the ringtone creation software ? rather than fight it ? as being predicted by some. Time will certainly tell. In the meantime, consumers are certainly the winner today, with such a wide variety of ways to customize their phones and ringtones.

Ringtone Media Studio is a product from software developer Avanquest Software. A trial version of the software can be found at http://www.ringtonemediastudio.com