An MP3 Primer...

Getting Your Music On The Internet

A Brief Primer By Dave Sawyer

So you've got a CD or tape of your music and want to place it on the Internet for all the world to hear. How do you get the tunes from here to there?

I'll give you these links up front, since they seem to have a more general approach and provide very useful information on the process and choices available. These were found via the Google Search Engine.

• http://www.i5ive.com/article.cfm/10301/66511
• http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/tutorials.html
• http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/news/832/

NOTE: If there is a term you don't understand, visit http://www.whatis.com for a definition.

First, you have to convert (aka "rip" or "encode") your CD or tape to your computer's harddrive. At this point, your music becomes a "data file" on your computer.

There are a variety of formats (MP3, WMA, RA, AU, etc.). We'll deal with MP3 here, because it's the most widely used.

CDs are easier to do because most computers have a CD-ROM drive already, and there are a variety of programs available that will rip directly to MP3 format.

Tapes are more difficult because you have to hook-up a tape player to the computer, then use a WAV file recording program to record each tune to your computer - not unlike standard tape dubbing - then convert the WAV file to MP3.

If you read any of the articles at the links I gave previously, you'll know there is a great deal written on encoding MP3s. There are a LOT of options available, but what really matters is *where are you going to put your MP3s on the Internet?*

The most popular host for MP3s is arguably, MP3.Com. But there ARE others. Some are free, some cost a little, some cost a LOT. You have to do your own homework on choosing who to trust your MP3s to.

Read each host's account plans and compare features, costs, and especially your rights. This, in my opinion, is the single most difficult, and time-consuming task of the entire process.

Once you've decided who gets to host your MP3s, find out what their encoding requirements are and rip your music to that specification.

Now you have MP3 files that need to physically get from your machine to your host's machines. Each host has their own method and should provide you with detailed instructions on how to accomplish this task.

I will warn you that each file is probably 4-7 megabytes in size and cannot normally be e-mailed (most e-mail providers have an overall filesize limit of around 2-5 megabytes). Also, depending on your connection to the Internet (modem, cable/dsl) and net traffic, it may take awhile to upload your files...less time with cable/dsl, but still more than a few minutes per file probably.

The benefits are great though. Your music is available to be heard around the globe.

You could become a star in East Izthatastan and be offered a million izthatabucks (worth about $0.0000001 U.S.) to play a concert for the entire population (19 men, 3 women, 23 children, 15 goats and a Yak).

You could just as easily be heard by a talent coordinator for Dreamworks and be offered a multi-million dollar record deal.

But I suggest you think of it as an electronic business card or online demo...just another way to promote yourself. You should e-mail people the link to your MP3 site, include it in ALL your e-mails as part of your "signature", have the link printed on your business cards, tell people wherever you play...any method to let people know you're out there.

Copyright © by Author: Dave “Bloozman” Sawyer, June 21, 2001