iPhone Ringtones

Apple has set up an easy way to add Ringtones to your iPhone. The number of iPhone Ringtones currently available is pretty low, but you can expect that number to rise in coming months as Apple cuts more deals with music distributors.

The much-anticipated new service went live Tuesday and although CEO Steve Jobs said 500,000 tracks would be available for do-it-yourself ringtone creation, the actual number of songs in my 1,000-track library totaled less than 100.

Worse yet, if your library consists of music you brought into iTunes from CDs you own or ripped elsewhere, you are out of luck. The Apple ringtones only can be made from tracks purchased directly from Apple.

And then, after paying Apple 99 cents to download the song to your library, you have to pay another 99 cents to make your ringtone. That’s double-dipping, forcing us to pay twice for the same clip.

But it’s not all negative, of course. The actual process for adding iPhone Ringtones is intuitive, and easy, according to most users who’ve tried the system.

Expect the application to improve in the coming months.