AT&T today announced two enhancements to its AT&T Mobile Music service that will let users use music to customize their cell phones. With mSpot's Make-Ur-Tones (couldn't they have come up with a better name?), AT&T customers can create their own ringtones using an application downloaded to their cell phone. While that in itself is hardly new, the application gives aspiring musicians a lot more freedom than you might expect. Instead of just offering a selection of Midi tones, users will be able to download an actual music track and then cut their favorite portion for a 30-second ringtone. Of course, there will be a fee involved. Make-Ur-Tones is available will require a monthly subscription of $6.99 for three ringtones, with additional ringtones costing $2.99 each.
Remix, also from mSpot, will let you use your handset and AT&T's network to access music saved on your PC. Not only can you play songs using the Remix player, but also the track download to your handset's memory card. At $9.99 per month Remix is more expensive than Make-UR-Tones, but you'll be able to download 75 songs. If you go past your amount, you can can get a "Remix booster pack" for $2.99, which will give you 10 additional song downloads.
Though the two services each accomplish something pretty nifty, we're not fans of the subscription model. Charging $7 to $10 per month is a bit steep and we don't like how it locks you into a set number of transactions (use it or lose it!). Here's hoping that AT&T also comes up with a purely a la carte mode. Also, the services won't be available on the same selection of AT&T phones, which is rather odd. While Make-Ur-Tones will work on the Samsung Sync SGH-A707, Samsung SGH-737, Samsung SGH-A747, and Motorola V3xx, Remix will be available only on the Samsung Sync SGH-A707, Samsung SGH-A737, and LG Shine CU720.
