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The Web Is Alive With Digital Music: How to Keep in Step
You say you want a revolution? Well, many of the "revolutionary" aspects of the Internet are more hype than reality, at least today. But digital music is real, here and now. And it's going to cause a whole lotta shakin', forcing the record industry, artists and consumers to change the way they behave in the huge music market.
Already, you can download hundreds of thousands of CD-quality digitized songs from the Web, in a format called MP3. You can then catalog and play them on your PC, load them onto a new generation of solid-state portable music players or record them onto CDs you create yourself.
Currently, most of the legally available songs are from unknown bands, but soon name acts will follow. All this means the times they are a-changin':
– Music could become cheaper.
– It will be easier for consumers to create their own "albums" containing only their favorite tracks, rather than letting a producer call the tune.
– Unknown artists without record contracts may have a chance to find an audience and distribute music directly to fans.
– Lesser-known artists with record contracts may be able to command a larger portion of the revenue from music.
Before any of that can happen, however, more people need to understand the practical ins and outs of the digital music phenomenon. Here, then, is a primer.
Q. What is this MP3 thing?
A. It's a computer file format that compresses the digital files containing the songs to a tenth of their normal size, without any sacrifice in audio quality that can be detected by a normal listener. A typical five-minute song might occupy 50 megabytes of space on a CD, which is itself a digital storage medium. But the MP3 version of that same song would be just five MB, small enough to download in a reasonable time, even with a dial-up modem.
Q. Is MP3 the only popular format?
A. Yes, for now, but others are on the way. Microsoft has introduced a format called WMA, which in some cases offers quality equal to MP3 with even smaller file sizes. The record industry is working on yet another format that can handle security features MP3 can't – such as digital payment schemes or barriers to copying files.
Q. Is it legal to download and play these MP3 files?
A. In most cases, it is legal. There are some bootleg MP3 versions of famous albums on some Web sites. But these illegal download sites are vastly outnumbered by perfectly legal sites that offer songs, mainly from unknown bands, whose owners want you to download them.
Q. Where can I find these legal downloads?
A. Try www.mp3.com or www.emusic.com, for starters.
Q. Is there any way to get MP3 versions of songs by name artists?
A. Yes. A few well-known artists have begun offering some of their music online in MP3 format. Also, you can legally convert tracks on CDs you own into MP3 files on your hard disk. To do that, you need a program called a "recorder," or "ripper," available free on the Web.
Q. Why would you want to do that if you already own the CD?
A. To create your own song collections.
Q. Are there any other advantages to MP3 files over standard CD tracks?
A. Yes. MP3 files can contain data about each song, such as artist, album, genre, notes, lyrics and even an embedded photo of the artist or album cover. This nonmusical data is called a "tag."
Q. How do you play these MP3 files once you get them onto your hard disk?
A. You'll need a program called a "jukebox." These do much more than merely play your MP3 songs. They collect them all into a library, let you edit the song tags and group any combination of songs you want into automated playlists, which are like virtual CDs. Some of the programs also include a recorder or ripper.
Q. What are some of the names of these programs, where do you get them, and what do they cost?
A. My favorite is MusicMatch Jukebox, available at www.musicmatch.com. It's the only one that can display lyrics and photos while a song is playing. Another good one is Winamp, at www.winamp. com. Others include Sonique, at www. sonique.com, and RealJukebox, at www. realjukebox.com. Most are free, though some charge for extra features.
Q. How can I listen to these MP3 songs when I'm away from my PC?
A. Two ways. If your PC is equipped with a CD recorder, or "burner," you can use special software to copy music onto blank CDs in the proper format. When you're done, you'll have CDs that can be played in almost any CD player. Or you can download songs from your PC into one of the new portable MP3 players.
Q. Can I play MP3s on my home stereo?
A. A couple of companies have announced plans to sell home stereo decks that play MP3s. One will actually contain its own internal hard disk and will connect directly to the Internet.
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