We take a close look at ringtone creation for the iPhone. It's a process that is as easy or as involved as you'd like it to be
Author: Damon Brown
Last September'>September we did a column on the new iPhone ringtones - or, namely, the lack there of. Licensing problems with the five major music groups made only eight percent of the Apple Music Store available as a ringtone. As you may remember, out of 14.3 days worth of music, I had 14 songs I could turn into a ringtone. Therefore, we focused on a "backdoor" way to turn your music into a ringtone (which Apple blocked in iTunes update 7.4.1.2) and virtually ignored the Apple sanctioned way - simply because you probably didn't have a song that qualified.
Now there are many, many more songs that qualify as ringtones - nearly 100 songs in my collection are available. (Side note: I proudly ring Menahan Street Band's jazzy "Make the Road By Walking," as opposed to the generic tubular bells default plaguing iPhones since last June.) This is an excellent time to look at the ringtone creation process. It is as easy or as involved as you'd like it to be.