Fall
1999
MP3: The Basics
While the music industry worries about how to
make songs available on the Web without losing money, and
some artists are turning to online music as a new channel
to their fans, many computer users are left wondering where
to find music online and what to do when they find it. Here
are some tips on music in the popular MP3 format, one of
many formats that can be used for storing music digitally.
Finding MP3 Audio
Though sometimes elusive, MP3 audio is widely
available on the Net. MP3.com offers
more than 10,000 pop, alternative, country, hip-hop and spoken-word
tracks, mainly by lesser-known artists, though major stars
like Tori Amos and Alanis Morissette will be offering live
performances through the site. It also features instructions
under the MP3 for Beginners banner. You can scour the Web,
looking for an artist or song title, through MP3 search sites
like www.2look4.com.
Because of potential copyright violations, Top 40 tracks
might prove difficult--or impossible--to find.
Sites offering titles illegally often require
surfers to download directly from a server with a special
password. As the Recording Industry Association of America
pursues more bootleg sites, these pirate tracks are becoming
increasingly elusive.
Playing MP3 Audio
COMPUTER-BASED PLAYERS: To decode MP3 files,
you need special software (a comprehensive list is available
at www.mp3.com/software).
MP3 players are widely available free (or for a small shareware
fee) for downloading. For Windows, Winamp (www.winamp.com)
and Musicmatch (www.musicmatch.com)
are popular; Macintosh users can try Macamp (www.macamp.com).
The new Real Player Plus G2 from Real Networks (www.real.com)
supports MP3, as well as streaming Real Audio and Video.
PORTABLE PLAYERS: The so-called killer app for
MP3 is special hardware that allows listeners to enjoy the
music away from the computer. Priced at less than $200, the
palm-size Diamond Rio has become the Walkman of MP3, playing
about an hour's worth of music (www.diamondmm.com).
Alternatives include the MPMan (www.eigerlabs.com/mpman/)
and the Nomad from Creative Labs (www.nomadworld.com/products/welcome.html).
Players designed specifically for use in cars, like the Empeg
Player (www.empeg.com), are beginning to hit the market
as well.
Making MP3 Files
Programs like Musicmatch for Windows and Audiocatalyst
(www.xingtech.com/mp3/audiocatalyst)
allow you to digitally extract and write audio tracks from
compact disks to your hard drive, a process sometimes called
ripping. With Musicmatch, for example, you simply insert
a CD into your CD-ROM drive and click on Record on the Musicmatch
player; a selected track will then be converted into MP3
within a few minutes. To record the MP3 track onto a CD,
it must be first converted to a WAV file (using an encoder
like Winamp), then 'burned' onto a disk using a CD recorder
device.
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Comments:
I am predominantly a keyboard player and I arrange most of
my music on a Windows(95)-based computer. I have run a few
tests (from both .WAV and CD) with the Musicmatch Jukebox freeware,
and although it's far from flawless and fairly slow to boot,
it does nicely for the time being. I was primarily looking
for an inexpensive way to make my songs accessible to the general
public via the web and this software is as inexpensive as it
gets! (There is apparently an upgrade for $29.95 that I would
*HOPE* is both faster and cleaner but I'm going to experiment
with the freeware version and read more reviews before I take
that plunge. I will be sure and let you know how it fares,
if you'd like me to.) If others are interested, they can download
the freeware from http://www.musicmatch.com/
Mike Mattone <mattone@pop.uky.edu>
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