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MP3 – THE NEW STANDARD OF AUDIO STORAGEMP3, short for MPEG-1 audio level 3, is one of the hottest things yet to hit the internet. It is simply a digital compression format used to store music. MP3 compression is so efficient that files take up only 1/10th to 1/12th the space required by other formats such as WAV and MIDI, and they suffer no loss of quality. It works by removing dead space and tones the human ear cannot hear from the song. What this means to the music industry is that audio files can be transmitted by current technology in a reasonable length of time. This could eventually make cd’s obsolete. The best news of all is, you can get your own player and some music for free! ARE MP3’S LEGAL? Of course, it is legal to use any format you wish (WAV, MIDI, MP3, etc) to store things. There is also nothing wrong with creating MP3s from your own CDs (called “ripping”) and storing them on your computer. It becomes illegal when you or the owner of a website decides to make songs available for others to download without the permission of the song’s copyright holder. If you visit a website and see many free songs by popular artists such as Aerosmith or Backstreet Boys, it is unlikely they have been granted permission to post them. However, some artists have permitted their fans to distribute live recordings (Grateful Dead and Pearl Jam to name a few). Other sites offer commercial music for purchase online through agreements with the respective artists and their record companies. FINDING SONGS Of course, you could go to a search engine and start looking, but there’s a better way. Rocketdownload, a shareware and free software site, has a terrific chart online. It compares the features of most of the MP3 related software available on the net in detail. Programs such as Napster allow users to trade their MP3’s. There is quite a controversy right now over the use of this type of software and copyright laws, so use discretion when downloading. Others programs like Abe’s MP3 Finder will search websites for the files in addition to allowing users to swap songs. Dedicated sites such as MP3.com have lots of music available for the taking. Many of the songs are from, as they put it, “The best bands you’ve never heard of”. A few are from mainstream groups, as well as new cutting edge bands. If you enjoy listening to something different, try them out. PLAYING SONGS To play MP3’s on an IBM compatible machine, you will need at least a Pentium or equivalent processor. Once you have found some files, you’ll need something to play them with. Microsoft has released a new version of Windows Media Player which now supports MP3 as well as video clips, mixed media, and much more. Realplayer has created Real Jukebox. It supports MP3’s, WAV and RealAudio formats. A nice song manager is included which works well with portable players. WinAmp is another popular player that allows you to cover the face with “skins” to match your desktop theme. Many programs have controls that resemble your real world cd player, which makes operation a piece of cake. Who says you can’t take it with you? You can if you purchase a portable MP3 player. They are similar to a walkman and can hold up to two hours of music. Some models have removable flash cards which gives you unlimited storage capacity. There are many benefits over tape or portable cd players that include no skipping, smaller and lighter players, and longer runtime on less energy. There is even a sound card made by Zoltrix that has an optical upgrade kit available. This will link your computer to your player using optical cables which have less noise than conventional audio cables. If you enjoy music, MP3 is a terrific new way to help curb your audio appetite. |
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