The ringtone industry is booming. As music fans around the world rush to pay their money out for the privilege of adding their favorite tunes to their phones, there is plenty of money changing hands and there is no good reason why your band shouldn't be collecting some of this cash. If your band has a distinctive sound and even a small fan base, becoming part of the ringtone gold rush makes sense.

Getting started is easy. Either use a recording you already have or record a new song. Use audio editing software to clean up the sounds and remove any unwanted background noise. By taking this step, you will make your finished ringtone's quality much better and thus improve your chances of creating a ringtone that the buying public will fall in love with.

Next, download some ringtone creation software. Freeware ringtone creation software is abundant on the Internet so just run a Google search to find something great. One of the best available freeware ringtone makers is ToneShop, offering ringtone creation for any phone that supports true audio ringtone's, including the iPhone.

When you have installed your ringtone creation software, simply open your recording in the software and define a start and end point for your ringtone. The most popular ringtone's are made from a distinctive beat or guitar riff that is instantly recognizable as your song. Other good choices include a chorus lyric or particularly emphasized lyrics that strike a chord with your listeners.

Keep it simple and short. No one wants a ringtone that plays for a full 3 minutes every time the phone rings so choose your start and end points carefully to convey the feeling of the song without playing the whole song. Also, bear in mind that, while the playback quality of cell phones has improved dramatically over the years, there are still limits in their ability to produce a true reproduction of your sound on many phones. A screaming guitar riff that sounds like gold when played on the stage may sound like a screaming Howler monkey when played through a cell phone speaker.

Then choose a location to save your new ringtone that is easy for you to find when you want to upload it to a ringtone sharing site later and process the file. Within moments, you should have a new ringtone waiting in the designated ringtone folder.

The process of making ringtone's is very simple and it provides an excellent way to share your bands sound with the world. Even if you choose not to offer your ringtone's for sale, they make an awesome gift to offer your fans from your website thus increasing your site's visitor count and boosting the sales of your other offerings while building an even larger fan base.