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Music
No matter what your musical interests are you will be able
to find songs in your favorite genres. If your tastes don't
follow the mainstream you may have to search a little
harder, but the web is as diverse as the people who make the
web sites. The advent of MP3 has spawned a multitude of MP3
music directory sites like MP3.com. Typically, they offer
several categories of music from classical to trance and all
stops in between.
Another way to develop your own music library is file
sharing. Applications like Napster, Morpheus and Aimster
allow Window users to join a community of music lovers
looking to share music. With these programs you can chat,
play music, search the music libraries of other users and
download files. Users download audio files from other
members' computers rather than a web server. Just remember
that granting someone access to your hard drive can pose a
potential security risk and is not for everyone.
The net also lets you experience live gigs from all over the
globe. Several sites broadcast live concerts via streaming
audio or video then archive the performances so you can tune
in later if you missed the real time web cast. Another
listening alternative is the online mix tape which lets you
listen to a number of different artists with a similar
sound. Some sites feature custom play lists created by
popular artists so you can hear Jewel's favorite songs. You
can also hear artists speak their minds in audio interviews.
Most audio files you'll run into are free to download.
Though some sites and artists charge a nominal fee to
download a MP3 song, normally 1-3 bucks. These songs are
often advance peeks at new material from popular artists.
You can also buy and download whole albums for around
$13-15. Musicians and other artists sign agreements with
commercial sites to legally distribute their music.
On the net, it's always a challenge to protect artist
copyright. Secure digital music formats like Liquid Audio
and a2b music files are securely encrypted after compression
to ensure that only the person who downloaded the track can
play it. Liquid Audio files also come watermarked with a
logo that guarantees the track is legal and authentic. MP3
files can also be encoded so that only the person who
downloads the file can play it, however most are not.
Downloading MP3s and ripping tracks from audio CDs is
perfectly legal. It’s distributing files of copyrighted
music which is illegal, similar to copying a CD to tape and
giving it to someone else. Major commercial sites aren't
carrying pirated content, but think twice about downloading
Britney Spears from someone's home page. The music industry
and technology companies are hoping to address the problem
of piracy with the Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI).
This group hopes to hammer out specifications for secure
downloads of digital music.
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