Before the dawn of smartphones, ringtones were not readily available. People would have to make do with factory preset sounds. It was this lack of choice that led to the rise of the ringtone industry. The idea was conceived in 1998 by Vesku Paananen, an electrical engineer and computer scientist from Finland. With the help of his colleagues, he created a simple way to create a bespoke incoming call sound.
Tones7 is another great website where you can herunterladen free ringtones as well as extra sounds. It also allows you to mix and match ringtones to create your own. There are many websites that offer free downloadable mp3 files for a customised ‘ringtone’. For instance, Ringtone Maker is a stripped-down version of the ringtone maker. All you have to do is upload a sound clip, select the start and stop time, and click on ‘Make a personalised ‘ringtone’.