Hip Hop Ringtone Company Warns Consumers about Questionable Ringtone Industry Practices

Hi-Fli Tones is trying to create a new image for the ringtone industry by offering quality content and helping to educate consumers about the common tricks and tactics many ringtone companies are using to mislead potential buyers.

Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) November 16, 2006 -- Hi-Fli Tones, a new hip hop ringtone company (http://www.hi-flitones.com/?utm_source=PRWEB&utm_medium=PR&utm_campaign=11162006) based in Atlanta, wants to protect consumers from getting 'locked in' to other ringtones companies, while separating themselves as the hottest and most trustworthy in the industry.

President of Hi-Fli Tones, Tim Maxman, has made a conscious effort to change the way ringtone companies do business. "There are several practices going on in the ringtone space that are misleading to consumers, and this is where Hi-Fli is trying to make a difference and truly differentiate itself from the crowd," says Maxman.

"All of the bigger ringtone players simply buy what's hot off the Top 40 or Billboard Charts," Maxman says. "There seems to be no commitment at all to quality content that offers the customer interesting choices. The primary goal of many ringtone sites is to generate as much traffic as possible in an effort to sell advertising. These sites frequently use spam, adware, and spyware to accomplish their goals," he explains.

Hi-Fli Tones has a different goal in mind. "We want to create the go to place on the Internet to find the widest array of hip-hop and rap ringtones anywhere - what's hot, what's up and coming, what's hot underground, and what's hot regionally," says Maxman.

Raising the Ringtone Bar

Hi-Fli Tones is raising the bar when it comes to quality content and variety. For example, Hi-Fli is the only ringtone company that creates four or five ringtones out of every song - one from the hook and one from each verse. "No other ringtone company does this - probably because they don't make their own ringtones," Maxman reports. "We make all ringtones ourselves, in-house. We have close ties to DJ's and artists, which is why our content truly stands out."

The ringtone company thinks of itself as a 'Rap and Hip-Hop portal' that features hip hop ringtones (http://www.hi-flitones.com/ringtones.asp?utm_source=PRWEB&utm_medium=PR&utm_campaign=11162006) and music downloads - but the growing company is more than just a great music site. For Hi-Fli Tones, creating community through news, video, photo galleries - all free of charge with unlimited browsing - is what the business is all about. "Community comes through people voluntarily coming to a site because they enjoy the experience - not because they have been locked into misleading deals," explains Maxman.

"We're trying to create something that is built to last, true to its product and mission, and based upon the premise that if we create a good product, people will come and see what we have to offer. These are all things that we believe in very deeply as a company. You cannot buy loyalty, and there are no short cuts to creating it or community," says Maxman. "It takes time and hard work - we like to say that we believe in hard work, honest customer practices, and being true to the street."

Ringtone Buyers Beware

In addition to offering great choices and community appeal, Hi-Fli Tones prides itself on honest business practices. They company is dedicated to protecting the consumer from the potentially fraudulent or dishonest schemes that are often synonymous with the words 'ringtone company'.

Maxman offers the following tips to consumers browsing ringtone sites:

1. Beware of free offers. Buyers should beware of any ringtone company that is offering free ringtones. "Ninety-nine times out of 100, when you give your phone number to one of these sites, you are signing up for a monthly subscription and you are not aware of it until you get your phone bill," explains Maxman.

2. Avoid sites that require a phone number, email address, or any piece of personal information, in order to browse their site. "You'll be spammed to death, or worst case, they are signing you up for some type of subscription," says Maxman. The largest sites out there have already settled tens of millions of dollars in class action lawsuits due to shady and misleading terms and conditions, and some of them are only just starting."

3. Before you buy, visit McAfee SiteAdvisor (http://www.mcafee.com) to check the ratings on ringtone companies. MacAfee rates sites based on their use of honest customer practices. Potential buyers should beware of a ringtone company that has received either a yellow exclamation point or a red 'X' as a rating.

About Hi-Fli Tones

Hi-Fli Tones is all about delivering street-authentic digital hip hop content to the masses. Founded by Bernardo Hicks and Tim Maxman, the company's aim is to offer an array of exclusive hip hop ringtones (http://www.hi-flitones.com/?utm_source=PRWEB&utm_medium=PR&utm_campaign=11162006), songs, wallpaper, videos, and more from a roster of current and rising stars from today's underground urban movement. Hi-Fli Tones lives by the belief that artists deserve greater respect, control, and compensation than the mainstream record industry currently provides. It is this philosophy, combined with its street credibility and access to the artists themselves, that makes Hi-Fli so unique. Armed with an effective grassroots marketing campaign, Hi-Fli is quickly becoming the go-to spot for what's hot on the streets. Hi-Fli Tones continues to search for and provide opportunities for emerging artists to expand its fan base and awareness through the distribution of multimedia content. For more information on Hi-Fli Tones, please visit www.hi-flitones.com.

###