Polyphonic Ringtones

Simply stated, a polyphonic ringtone is a ringtone that uses polyphony. So what is polyphony? Polyphony is defined as the number of voices or notes that a device can make at the same time. So, essentially polyphonic is the opposite of the original ringtones, which were monophonic, and only played one note.

Using polyphonic ringtones, record labels were able to get into the ringtone game. Specifically, songs were, for the first time, able to be transformed into polyphonic, or multi-note, ringtones. By allowing multiple notes, sounds and pitches, ringtones were able to truly resemble the songs which they played, rather than being weak reminders of them.

The ringtone industry has prospered significantly since the advent of polyphonic ringtones. Teens make up the largest audience of polyphonic ringtone users, but older Americans have been buying and using these ringtones as well.

As you might imagine, the ringtones downloaded by older Americans are a bit different than those purchased and downloaded by teens. That's probably a good thing :)