Just found out there’s a way for you or me to create our own ringtones and sell them online; according to Brian White (see below).  This information came from KXAN.com  story  called  A Ringtone That Caused So Much Noise

Although this story operates on the fringe of the wireless spectrum, it sounded interesting enough to post on. While this highly-controversial ringtone situation made the news, could this set off a new wave of youtube-inspired artists to create their own wireless handset ringtones to make available — for a price, most likely — to potential buyers?

Who knows — but as ringtones continue to be hot sellers in the wireless industry (to the tune of hundreds of millons of dollars annually), we can see the day when ringtones are either created and traded for free over the web, or perhaps auctioned on ebay even. It’s a weird world out there, circa 2006.

….  From the KXAN.com article:

Saucido created and voiced the ringtone that makes fun of La Migra — Spanish slang for immigration.

Cingular Wireless liked his ringtone so much they picked it up to sell to their customers. They are selling it for $2.50.

Saucido’s laugh at illegal immigration caused a lot of problems for Cingular.

"They pulled everything," Saucido said.

They pulled it after the League of United Latin American Citizens complained.

"They basically had no spine, and LULAC calls. They say, ‘Oh, OK, we’re sorry. We’re sorry.’ That’s not right either," Saucido said.

LULAC Regional President Rita Gonzalez Garza said what wasn’t right was Cingular selling it in the first place.

"Immigrants, whether they’re legal or illegal, suffer great injustices and indignities here in the states," Garza said.

"As far as when people on both sides of the issue, they get too much of that fever, and when you get too much of that fever, you lose reason. So it’s like that’s not right. That’s not right. It’s racist," Saucido said.

Garza says on top of the ringtone being racist, it’s disrespectful and surprising.

"First of all by a Latino artist. He states it’s a satirical piece, but I think that’s a poor selection of a subject matter," Garza said.

Saucido calls himself a proud Lefty and Chicano, but he has to defend himself a lot these days.

"It’s [an] unfortunate way to try to make a buck, whether by comedian or Cingular," Garza said.

"When is satire appropriate? So what do I got to do? Do I have to tailor and censor myself? It is what it is," Saucido said.

Only eight Cingular subscribers apparently bought the ringtone while it was up. Now that it’s been removed, it’s become a hot commodity for hackers.

It might get worse before it gets better.

Saucido says all this controversy has inspired him to come up with 12 new ringtones with another company that he says are even more provocative.

To hear the ringtone and judge for yourself, watch the video on the upper left part of this page.

I listened to the ringtone and the news report on on the KXAN.com site.  There’s many issues around that particular ringtone; it was not clear if making your own ringtone is an opportunity open to many.

It could be an opportunity for a contest though - that is - if the company running the contest was in a position to sell or circulate the ringtone(s).  I’m not sure if just anyone can sell a ringtone, if there are any legal or FCC issues there.   What if HP, IBM, Sun or even a newspaper ran a contest, allowed someone to make their own ringtone, or a podcast, vidcast, and the winner could post their creation on the front page of the site?