A Washington Ringtone Symphony
By Jeanette Pollock

Not all cell phones, and not all cellular service providers, let you download ringtones for free. Some will only let you use their own ringtones, or require that you use only their service to download ringtones (usually for a fee).

If your cell phone lets you download ringtones from multiple sources, there are many things to consider. First, you need to know which ones are and are not compatible with your phone. Once you are sure that the ringtones are compatible, look at how and why free ringtones are free. Music that is in the public domain-classical music and other music whose copyright has expired-is usually free. Some bands release ringtones from upcoming CDs for free to promote their CDs. Some websites are ad-supported and offer free ringtones to build traffic for the website, since what they can charge their advertisers depends on how many people visit their websites. Some free ringtones of popular music may be bootleg and violate intellectual property rights. And some spyware may offer free ringtones to entice you to download from sites that will capture your personal information and sell it to the highest bidder.

Before you get so excited by the "wide world of ringtones" that you spend a lot of money on a phone that will let you download an infinite number of ringtones for free, look at what other services and cheaper phones will cost you. Think about how many ringtones you might actually want to download, and compare the total costs before you buy.

Jeanette Pollock is a freelance author and website owner of your-cell-phone.com. Visit Jeanette's site to learn more about ringtones and if you should pay for them.