Cell 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. Cell phone ring-tones have also come a long way from being just rings or beeps or rings in the initial days of the cell phone. Today the variety of ring-tones 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 cell phone ring tones is mainly attributed to more and more younger people using cell phones. The ever evolving industry of cell phone ring tones is heavily dependent on the tastes and preferences of these young people.

Most cell phone ring tones today are available for free. Most of them are available on the cell phone websites that offer a choice from the melodious to the ridiculous. Most ring tones 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 cell phone compatibility. Most new handsets available today are compatible with capabilities to store more and more ring tones. Ring tones are looked upon as a tool for customizing a cell 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 cell 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 ring tones can be expensive. Online stores typically charge more to send a song snippet to your cell 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 ring tones 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 MP3s 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.