mSpot announced today that its Make-UR-Tones application will now be a core offering for customers of US Cellulars new high-speed EVDO (evolution-data optimized) network. Make-UR-Tones is a mobile app that allows users to create their own ringtones from any of the songs on mSpot’s 400,000 strong catalog.
Users create the ringtone by choosing up to 30 seconds of the song they want. The ringtone is then downloaded to the users phone for $2.99. The mSpot catalog includes songs from big labels EMI, Universal Music, Warner Music and Sony Music.
From the release:
“At U.S. Cellular we are committed to delivering the highest quality apps to our customers, and helping them get the most out of their wireless experience,” said Carl Steen, Senior Manager, Product Management and Marketing for U.S. Cellular. “mSpot’s Make-UR-Tones helps meet that goal by offering the ultimate mobile music application for personalizing their ringtones.”
“We are excited to work with U.S. Cellular in meeting the ongoing demand and popularity of mobile phone personalization,” said mSpot CEO Daren Tsui. “mSpot Make-UR-Tones offers customers a unique opportunity to get creative and have fun customizing their phones.”
What we think?
I’ve always like the mSpot service. People love to customise their phones and while it’s possible to just create your own ringtone, it’s more effort than most people are willing to go to. Just being able to conveniently grab 30 seconds worth of ringtone from over 400,000 songs is great… but is it worth it? 3 dollars for a ringtone is a lot. And is it still relevant? The downloadable ringtone is a form of content that’s looking like it will get left behind. Not that it will dissappear (there will always be ringtones), but as the mobile Internet becomes more fluid and user-friendly, the idea of paying for ringtones as a form of downloadable content getting distinctly old-fashioned. More and more smartphones are bone-fide MP3 players… in the face of that, your classic ringtone looks a bit dowdy.
