According to Nielsen Ringscan, more than 81 million ringtone-related songs were bought in 2006. By the time Apple did this month's press announcement, it already had one million iPhone customers ready to buy.

Although the press conference gave us what we wanted to hear —music library ringtones on the iPhone —but Apple's had more than a hard time delivering the goods. Apple gave an iTunes update after the conference, adding the option "Ringtones" to the Library list (right under "Radio") - and then didn't give any ringtones.

Enterprising users discovered how to put ringtones on their iPhones, which is when the (lawfully bought) Rocky theme song trumpeted from my iPhone, and within a week Apple discovered how they were putting ringtones on their iPhones , which is when Rocky and other "bootleg" ringtones became incompatible with iTunes.

Apple is only allowing Apple Music Store-purchased music to be used as a ringtone and even charging an additional $.99 for the process, but users are most irritated at how inconsistent the selection of ringtones has been since the ringtone "launch." Like other consumers, my iTunes library originally had no ringtone-eligible songs (which are indicated by a bell icon). The next time I opened iTunes, just over a dozen songs were listed as ringtone-compatible. Reopening iTunes the following day, there was once again no ringtone-compatible songs—the ones originally listed were de-listed from ringtone status. This flip-flop has gone on for weeks.


        Bell Indicates Ringtone Compatible Songs

The more disturbing aspect is how few songs are available as ringtones. Out of 14.3 days worth of music, I had 14 eligible songs. They were as random as Average White Band's "School Boy Crush," Justin Timberlake's "Sexyback," and Chicago's "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?". According to a recent WIRED news piece, Apple's limited music licensing has tied up most of its electronic music catalog. Only about eight percent is available.

There are always options. For those lucky (and smart enough) to not have updated to iTunes 7.4.1.2 in mid-September, the old, simple method is explained on the next page. For the rest of us, hackers are working on other tools to get our favorite theme song back on the iPhone.

About the Author
Damon Brown wrote the "Pocket Idiot's Guide to the iPhone" (Alpha/Penguin Books). Available on August 7, you can preorder it at Amazon or your favorite online bookstore. Damon also writes for Playboy, SPIN and The New York Post.

The Old Ringtone Way
Find the file of the song you'd like as a ringtone. (Click on the song, then "Get Info," and finally "Summary" to get the file location.) Duplicate the file and put it in another, separate directory. Change the file extension of the duplicate file to .M4R.

If you are a Windows user and the file extension doesn't show up, go to the Explorer menu above your file and choose "Tools," then "Folder Options," and finally "View". Click on "Hide extensions for known file types" to turn that option off. The extensions should show up and, once changed to M4R, the file type should say "Ringtone."

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Now open up iTunes and literally drag and drop the new file into your library. It may take a few tries, but it will show up under the "Ringtones" tab. It will also be available to upload to the iPhone when connected. Files under 3MB tend to work best - anything larger usually isn't accepted. And for whatever reason, some songs just don't work. It is a trial and error method.

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Post-iTunes 7.4.1.2, the net is packed with suggested backdoors - more file extension changes and the like - but few, if any actually work. Right now the most sensible option is independent software, and the most popular software is iToner from Ambrosia. A trial version is available right now - and, unfortunately, is only for the Mac.

iToner creates a pseudo-iPhone interface on your desktop. Grab the desired music file, drag it into the iPhone mockup and, after loading up the desired ringtones, "Sync" the iPhone to transfer the music. The best part that it reads both MP3s and AACs.

The official copy of iToner is available for $15 from Ambrosia's Web site. That's the cost of about 15 Apple-sanctioned ringtones… if 15 are available in your library.

About the Author
Damon Brown wrote the "Pocket Idiot's Guide to the iPhone" (Alpha/Penguin Books). Available on August 7, you can preorder it at Amazon or your favorite online bookstore. Damon also writes for Playboy, SPIN and The New York Post.