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A ringtone maker is an application that converts a user chosen song or other audio file for use as a ringtone of a mobile phone. The ringtone file is installed in the mobile phone either by direct cable connection, Bluetooth, text messaging, or e-mail. On many websites, users may create ringtones from digital music or audio.

The earliest ringtone maker was Harmonium, developed by Vesa-Matti Paananen, a Finnish computer programmer, and released in 1997 for use with Nokia smart messaging.[15][16] Some phone manufacturers included features for users to create music tones, either with a "melody composer" or a sample/loop arranger, such as the MusicDJ software included on many Sony Ericsson phones. These often use encoding formats only available to one particular phone model or brand. Other formats, such as MIDI or MP3, are often supported; they must be downloaded to the phone before they can be used as a normal ringtone.[original research?]

In 2005, "SmashTheTones", now "Mobile17", became the first third-party solution for ringtone creation online without requiring downloadable software or a digital audio editor. Later, iPhones included the ability to create a ringtone from a song purchased with the iTunes library.[17]

Commercial sales and popularity
In September 1996, IDO sold Digital Minimo D319 by Denso. It was the first mobile phone where a user could input an original melody, rather than having to use preloaded melodies. These phones proved to be popular in Japan, with a book[18] being published in 1998 providing details about how to customize phones to play snippets of popular songs, selling more than 3.5 million copies.

The first downloadable mobile ringtone service was created and delivered in Finland in 1998 when Radiolinja (a Finnish mobile operator now known as Elisa) started their service called Harmonium, invented by Vesa-Matti Pananen.[19] Harmonium contained both tools for individuals to create monophonic ring tones and a mechanism to deliver them over-the-air (OTA) via SMS to a mobile handset. In November 1998, Digitalphone Groupe (SoftBank Mobile) started a similar service in Japan.

Andy Clarke, while working for UK phone provider Orange, helped created the B5 Ringtone License with the UK's Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society in 1998. In 1999, Clarke registered ringtone.net and setup what is believed to be the world's first "legal" ringtone business. Scott Memphis, leader singer of Sunday Morning Sanctuary, wrote a 2010 hit entitled, "Ringtones & Lullabies" inspired by with the B5 Ringtone Licensing of 1998.

The fact that consumers were willing to pay up to $5 for ringtones, made mobile music a profitable part of the music industry.[20] A significant portion of sales went to the cell phone provider.[21] The Manhattan-based marketing and consulting firm Consect estimated ringtones generated $4 billion in worldwide sales in 2004.[16] According to Fortune magazine, ringtones generated more than $2 billion in worldwide sales during 2005.[22] The rise of sound files also contributed to the popularization of ringtones. In 2003 for example, the Japanese ringtone market, which alone was worth US$900 million, experienced US$66.4 million worth of sound file ringtone sales.[21] In 2003, the global ringtone industry was worth somewhere between US$2.5 and US$3.5 billion.[21] In 2009, the research firm SNL Kagan estimated that sales of ringtones in the United States peaked at $714 million in 2007.[23]

Decline of popularity
SNL Kagan estimated U.S. sales of ringtones in 2008 declined to $541 million, as consumers utilized third-party software and tutorials to create ringtones themselves.[20] Another reason for the decline of ringtones is due to the increase of mobile devices in the late 2000s having internet connectivity, allowing consumers to download full songs from marketplaces such as iTunes and Amazon, rather than buying excerpts for $5 through text.[24] The technological advancements of smartphones is also considered to be a factor in the decline of ringtones, with consumers shifting their focus to software such as games and social media.[25] The decline of ringtones has further continued throughout the 2010s and 2020s, with many people setting the ringtone to silent; Sensor Tower reported in 2021 that ringtone app downloads decreased by 20% from 2016 to 2020.[26]

Cult following
Preloaded ringtones have also developed a cult following over the years. A Twitter account named Ringtone Bangers + More launched in 2020, posts preloaded ringtones from mobile phones, as well as other music related to technology such as demoes from keyboards and software installation background music.[27] The account has also published interviews with composers who worked on ringtones.[28]

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