Ringtones
Ringtones are the most common and widely known audio downloads for phones. Typically a 6- to 20-second snippet of a popular song, a ringtone can be downloaded and used instead of the standard ringing notification when receiving a call. Ringtones offer a way to personalize a user's phone quickly and inexpensively. For the Content Provider, they are an excellent source of repeat business as old ringtones are quickly discarded once out of fashion.
Because different phones use different audio and ringtone file formats, you will need to identify compatible formats for delivering your audio files. Most phones will play MIDI files, but newer phones can support WAV, MP3, AMR, QCP, and WMA (among others) for a more musical experience.
Scalable Polyphony MIDI (SP-MIDI), commonly referred to as "polyphonic," has the advantage of almost universal compatibility with phones today. Once converted, your content is available to a very large customer base. However, sound quality is limited. Customer expectations have moved to the more musical experience offered by other formats, thus reducing the current sales potential of polyphonic audio files.
That being said, SP-MIDI is a good place for beginning audio developers to start. Polyphonics can be created directly with electronic musical instruments (such as a MIDI-compatible keyboard) or on a computer using the appropriate conversion or composition software. While a greater number of musical instruments can make the ringtone sound richer, remember that the main tune (which people recognize) must not be obscured. And of course, always test the ringtone on actual handsets at various volumes to ensure a quality product. Very low notes do not reproduce well, and very high notes can be shrill and painful to listen to on a mobile phone. You can get additional information from the MIDI Manufacturers' Association.
Musical format (MP3, WMA, etc.) ringtones work differently than polyphonics. Instead of converting music to a fixed set of instrument sounds, these formats preserve the musical qualities of the original content. First, they are typically brief clips (around 10 seconds) of the original song. Further, the sound is compressed using defined algorithms so file sizes are smaller and easier to transfer to a phone. However, the original sound quality is preserved. Among true audio formats, AAC offers the highest quality sound playback, followed by MP3, and then other formats such as SMAF, AMR, AWB, and RMF.
Ringtones in MP3 format offer realism and flexibility, and they are quickly overtaking the older polyphonic format in terms of sales. Instead of offering a facsimile of a song, this format offers a true representation of the original. Customers are willing to pay a premium for these ringtones over polyphonic ones, but backward compatibility with older phones remains an issue.
Files sizes for true audio ringtones such as AAC or MP3 range between 50 KB and 250 KB. MIDI or polyphonic ringtones range between 2 KB and 40 KB in size. These are general ranges, and some devices will accept files that are much larger. However, you should always consider download time when creating a ringtone. As an example, a 200 KB AAC file will provide 20-25 seconds of music when properly formatted for a mobile device.
The key to musical ringtones is to capture the right section of the full song. Your ringtone must be instantly recognizable within 10 or 15 seconds.
Make sure to edit any popping sounds or unnatural breaks in the natural loop of the music. Play back your sound clip thoroughly to test quality. It's also a good idea to make your ringtone monophonic. Although a few high-end devices support stereo audio, this feature is mainly supported through use of a headset accessory with the handset. Most mobile devices do not have stereo speakers, and will not be able to take advantage of stereo ringtones. Mono ringtones also have smaller file sizes.
Ringback tones are newer audio offerings enjoying rapid growth in the industry. A new twist on the personalization of a phone, these tones replace the traditional ringing sound a caller hears when they call you. Depending on the wireless carrier, most customer plans allow users to customize a specific ringback tone based on the caller ID of the inbound call. For example, you may configure the system to play your college fight song for fellow alumni, while your spouse hears the dance song from your wedding.
Ringback tones are unique in many respects. First, they are never downloaded to the phone itself; instead, the files reside on the wireless carrier's system, and a customer purchases "rights" to use a specific answer tone. Depending on the system used by a carrier, the files are typically stored in WAV or MP3 format and optimized for playback over a phone's earpiece.
In a typical Content Provider scenario, let's say you want to support both ringtone and ringback tone products on a carrier. As the content owner, it would make sense to fully leverage your content by making it available for sale via as many channels as the wireless carrier provides. Remember, your biggest cost is likely to be the licensing fees paid for the song, not conversion or storage costs. Besides, you can expect that if a ringtone is popular, people will want to use it as a ringback tone as well.
Like ringtones, creating these filles is fairly straightforward and can be done with the variety of conversion software widely available today. The key to a successful ringback tone is to choose the more recognizable portion of the song, such as the chorus.
Ringtones are the easiest and most popular mobile applications to create. With the right software, you can turn anything from your latest composition to your child's laugh into a sound file for mobile devices.
- Use audio production software to create your music file. Current popular audio tools for making sound files include Sound Forge, Digidesign ProTools M-Powered, and Garage Band for Macintosh.
- Make sure that your music or sound clip is recognizable and/or loopable in approximately 6-second time increments (e.g., 6, 12, or 18 seconds).
- Save your ringtone as a WAV file or MP3. WAV is the preferred format for best quality across different wireless devices. AAC and other formats may offer higher audio quality in specific instances; there's no industry standard at the time of this printing.
Creating these tones yourself requires simple conversion software, such as Steinberg Cubase,
Nuendo, and WaveLab. Many products are widely available.
Take your ringtone to market with a Beyond MEdia Net Aggregator! An aggregating service can
edit and transcode your sound file into suitable formats for different mobile devices.
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