Mobile phones have been in vogue for the past 15 years or so, and have today become the most inseparable tool to professionals and businessmen alike. Mobile phone ringtones have also come far from being just rings or beeps or rings in the initial days of the Mobile phone. Today the variety of ringtones can be mind boggling, from the crying of a baby to the sound of a bad storm in the ocean. This advent of maturity in Mobile phone ringtones is mainly attributed to more and younger people using mobile phones. The ever evolving industry of Mobile phone ringtones is heavily dependent on the tastes and preferences of these young people.

Most Mobile phone ringtones today are available for free. Most of them are available on the Mobile phone websites that offer a choice from the melodious to the ridiculous. Most ringtones available today are based on the latest audio hits that the younger generation have taken a liking for.

Downloading a ring tone is absolutely easy and the only factor that needs to be considered is the Mobile phone compatibility. Most new handsets available today are compatible with capabilities to store more and more ring tones. Ringtones are looked upon as a tool for customizing a Mobile phone to reflect the personality of the user. The young go for the flashier ones and the older people prefer the melodious.

It's no secret that Mobile phones can now alert you to incoming calls with a musical ring tone. I applaud this development: Songs sound better than beeps, and they're personal.

There is a catch, however. Buying ringtones can be expensive. Online stores typically charge more to send a song snippet to your Mobile phone than they do to download a whole song to your PC. Ring-tone sellers tend to tout compatibility they can't back up. Even if they sell you one that works on your phone and deliver it to you successfully, you'll still have to pony up more cash every time you want to switch your ring tone. And if you buy a new phone, you may not be able to use the ringtones you've purchased and loaded onto your old one.

Record labels love it when fans buy a ring tone of a song they already own — the industry claims $4 billion in ring-tone sales to date. But in fairness, you shouldn't have to pay separately just to hear your CD tracks or legally acquired MP3’s as ring tones.

In most cases, you don't have to. Putting a snippet of a CD track or MP3 file on your phone is actually very straightforward — not to mention free, if you already own the song.  Some mp3 ringtones can cost as much as $6 so doing them your self is well worth it!