My songs will not download to use as a ringtone ?

You need to convert them to the M4R format and trim them to 30 seconds or less to use them as ringtones. Garage Band can do this or there are apps available in the App Store that can convert them.

I wonder if it’s new that we can’t use songs for ringtones? Because I have, like, 10-ish songs that I’ve been using as ringtones for a long time in my list, whether I go through Settings/Sounds or assigning one to a specific contact. Lmk if you find out how!!

Is that new that we can’t use songs for ringtones? Because I have, like, 10-ish songs that I’ve been using as ringtones for a long time in my list, whether I go through Settings/Sounds or assigning one to a specific contact.

No, it's not new, it's always been this way.