RingRanger has launched a ringtone site in the UK that allows users to mix their own tones, which the site then plans to sell to other visitors. The site is at pains to emphasize that it’s very easy to mix a tone, even for complete novices, utilizing their simple-to-use tools.

Over 200 phones are supported, so it’s quite a sophisticated backend operation.

Ringtones will sell for £1.50 ($2.80), which is certainly at the low cost end of the ringtone sector. The people who create the ringtone mix are expected to get points for each sale, which can be redeemed for a range of prizes.

As relevantly, for this market, there’s a chart system and I anticipate considerable kudos being associated with being Number 1, or in the Top 10, if the site takes off.

I think that this concept could be improved, however, by allowing core, loyal, and prolific ringtone creators to have their status upgraded to “Pro,” for instance. This would certainly give others something to strive for, but perhaps the Pros could then be given a cut of the revenue share? How long before a Pro, perhaps, turns pro in the ringtone game?

When I interviewed Simon Buckingham, CEO of global ringtone producer Mobile Streams this week, he was dismissive about these user-created content sites, describing them as “Another small niche for those in the know.”

While there’s an element of “he would say that,” I think he’s right about this being a niche operation - but don’t forget that niches can be big and very profitable. There’s certainly something very attractive about a business model where the users create all the content and you get to sell it for them - it works for eBay.

The main issue I see with this type of site though is: Will it be compelling enough as a customer to buy an amateur-produced ringtone? After all, professional stuff generally is better than amateur. So will the quality be good enough to justify a purchase, albeit at reduced prices?

Like any artistic creation, some people are going to be talented and others also-rans. It’s the same with the other user-created content of the day - blogs. Less than 1% are worth reading, if we’re realistic, but the ones worth reading are as good as anything anyone else produces. And, lest we forget, they’re free.

It seems to me then that they need some pretty good tone mixers early on to drive this quality message home. Perhaps this could involve some A (or at least B) list DJs? Nice PR, too.

But I also think that this type of site, combined with the elephant in the room that is peer-to-peer ringtone sharing, is going to be much more important than is generally supposed in the ringtone industry.