It is pretty crazy how the mobile services industry has evolved in the last 20 years ago. Ringtones were a billion dollar industry just 20 years ago and now practically gone. This article has its history, in case you were curious.
Then, in 1998, a Finnish engineer tired of Nokia’s preset monotone interfering with his weekday hangovers (no joke) found a way to transfer audio files directly to his phone through text message and the ringtone revolution began in earnest. By 2002, 30% of all SMS traffic were requests for downloadable ringtones.