What’s that? You think ringtones are outdated?
Well I may be able to change your mind. According to Sherwood the top ringtone apps have generated over $21 million in subscription revenue with over 60 million yearly downloads.
This means there’s a a huge market for ringtones, and you can tap into it.
Whether you’re a music enthusiast or a musician yourself, making and selling ringtones could be a profitable side hustle.
You can either edit popular songs (legally, of course) or turn your own music into catchy ringtones. Keep reading to learn how you can start making money by selling ringtones today!
Table of Contents
How to Create Ringtones for Sale (Step-by-Step)
Ringtones are nothing but a smaller version of a song.
They are usually less than 20 seconds long and consist of the best part of the song/music.
To make them, you could either use software, or you can use websites that will allow you to turn any music into ringtones through their system. More on that later!
Creating ringtones is a simple process if you follow these steps:
Step 1: Choose a Song or Original Music
Pick a popular song (make sure you have the rights to it) or use your own music. The best ringtones are usually recognizable, catchy parts of a song.
Step 2: Use a Ringtone Maker
You can use tools like Audacity, GarageBand, or online ringtone makers to edit your music. These tools help you cut, trim, and adjust your audio.
Step 3: Trim the Audio
Ringtones are typically no longer than 20-30 seconds, so trim your chosen part of the song to fit within this time frame. Focus on a catchy section, like a chorus or instrumental break.
Step 4: Export in Common Formats
Save your ringtone in formats like MP3 (for general use) or M4R (for iPhones). Once you save your new ringtone you are ready to sell!
Best Sites to Sell Your Ringtones Online
Okay, now that you’ve made your ringtones and are ready to make some money, where exactly do you sell them?
Here are some of the best options for selling your ringtones:
iTunes & Google Play
Most of us already know and use Apple iTunes and Google Play. What makes both of these platforms great for selling ringtones is that there is a huge built-in audience ready to spend money.
To sell ringtones here, you’ll need to register as a seller. I should warn you, registering an account on Google Play and iTunes as a seller can be a little tedious, but it’s worth it. Once you’re in, you have access to millions of potential ringtone buyers worldwide!
PayLoadz
- Official PayLoadz site: https://www.payloadz.com
PayLoads is not a ringtone-exclusive site; rather, it’s a platform for selling digital products (downloads, basically).
It makes it very easy to sell any kind of digital goods, such as ringtones and songs. They charge a 20% commission per sale.
What’s great about it is that it’s very easy to use. It also offers a secure way for you to handle all transactions.
They do take a 20% commission on every sale you make, so you get to keep 80% of the profits, which makes it an attractive option for those looking to sell digital goods directly.
Airbit & BeatStars
- Official Airbit site: https://airbit.com
- Official BeatStars site:https://www.beatstars.com
If you’re a musician looking to monetize your ringtones, sites like Airbit and BeatStars are great platforms for selling ringtones and beats.
What’s cool about using these sites is that you can integrate them with social media to reach even more potential buyers
Your Own Website
If you’re like me and like doing things all on your own to make sure everything runs smoothly, selling ringtones on your own website is the way to go.
Thankfully, these days, with so many free and paid website builders with built-in eCommerce functionalities, it’s easy for anyone to build websites with just a few clicks. You don’t need to know any coding to build a functional site.
You can use PayPal for payments on your site by creating a “Buy” button in your PayPal account and embedding it on your site.
Or you can use Shopify. Shopify makes it easy to set up a full online store to sell your ringtones. It lets you create a customized storefront, accept payments, and even offer promotions or discounts to attract customers.
Sell on Etsy
No, Etsy isn’t just for selling handmade crafts. You can sell anything, including ringtones.
If you don’t want to deal with getting traffic to your own site, Etsy is a great option since it already has millions of visitors each month. You just have to create SEO-optimized and attention-grabbing listings to attract buyers within the site.
Update
I wrote this guide originally back in 2013. Obviously, a lot has changed since then. A few of the sites and platforms mentioned in the original guide are no longer around. We are keeping them in this section for archival reasons and for the occasional curious readers who may wonder, ‘Hey, whatever happened to X, Y, and Z?‘?
Myxer
Update: Myxer is no longer around!
Myxer is perhaps the most famous site of its kind. It lets you make and distribute mobile phone ringtones, as well as wallpapers. You can also sell the ringtones you create on their site.
The only downside is that they keep 70% of each sale to cover their costs.
That said, the beauty of these sites is that they will give you your own mobile content store that you can embed in your Facebook or other social media pages attracting more buyers.
Plus, sites like this really make it easy for anyone with no technical skills to create and sell ringtones.
You can price your tones between $0.99 and $2.99.
If you want to sell the ringtones you create elsewhere, they will give you a piece of code that you can embed on any page to easily sell to anyone.
Xingtone – Update: Xingtone has shut down!
Another such a site is Xingtone.
It lets you turn any piece of audio into ringtones and sell them via your own mobile content Webstores.
You can embed these “webstores” anywhere, on your site, Facebook page, blog, etc.
You can sell your ringtones for between $0.99 and $3.00.
With this site, you get a better deal as you will get to keep 40-50% of the gross sales for yourself.
Wrapping Up: Is Selling Ringtones Worth It?
Selling ringtones can be a fun way to make some extra cash. What I really like about it is that, just like making money with videos, you create the ringtone once, but you can keep selling it over and over again. It’s as close as you can get to passive income.
Obviously, if you want to be successful and sell more than just a handful of downloads, you need to make unique ringtones. Take advantage of popular trends or tap into a niche market that’s still active.
With so many platforms to sell your ringtones on, it’s easier than ever to make money by selling ringtones directly to your audience.
Hello I’m from Egypt and I want to thank you for the beautiful Information
I have a question in the payment system in companies
Thanks for the kinds words, Abdel.
What’s your questions?
Myxerdotcom Not open why
It seems like the site has been hacked and it is now serving malicious files or something else. I Updated the post to reflect that. I wouldn’t visit that URL anymore since it seems to be hacked and perhaps it will inject malicious files onto your computer.
Has myxerdotcom up & running? I just want Zeppelin “Stairway to Heaven ” intro and Chicago “Does Anybody know what time it is ” intro as ring tones. Where can I find?
Randy, it looks like it’s still down.
Is there an alternative to the site and thank you
Abdel, besides the few mentioned in the post, no I do not know of any other site that you can use to sell ringtones.
Honestly, I believe that you don’t have as large a variety as the majority of all the other sites I’ve been on and I also think that these aren’t very good sites.