The Wonders of Audio Streaming 

by Rebecca Hubbard

The Wonders of Audio Streaming

Are you currently living in a cave? and have limited access to airwaves? Have no fear. Streaming audio is here.

Streaming audio delivers audio signal straight into your internet without having to download mp3. wav. au. So you don’t have to wait until the file is completed, only to find out you have downloaded a garbled file that when played backwards, transmits instructions from the devil.

Some multimedia files are too big to download conveniently. Either it occupies too much space on your hard disk, or they take too long to download, especially for those who are still operating on a modem.

Audio streaming works by receiving data in a continuous stream. As the data arrives you will experience buffering for a few seconds, before the actual playback starts. And as long as you are receiving data, you should have a continuos stream of audio transmission.

If the data does not come fast enough, or if there’s congestion on the internet, rebuffering will occur. So you may experience a pause in transmission from time to time. Also the data you receive from audio streaming does not store in your computer permanently.

Streaming audio emits sound as it is being broadcasted. Many radio stations have an accompanying online feed, such as Radio1, KCRW, WGLS, and many more. This is perfect for music lovers from all over the world. Now they can follow their favorite bands, as they make radio appearances from various radio stations from around the world.

Many concerts are also archived on various websites. You can listen to these files by means of audio streaming.

Sporting events are also broadcasted online via streaming audio. So if your local network doesn’t carry your favorite sporting event, or if you don’t have access to cable, streaming audio on the internet might just be your best bet. You can listen to it on real time. Real time audio is what it’s called when data is being transmitted live. But first, you are going to need software.

There are two major software formats that radio stations often carry. This is the RealAudio® or Windows Media Player. Mp3 streaming format, such as Winamp, is also now becoming popular, more and more radio stations are using this audio streaming format, nowadays.

Streaming audio can also be recorded by using a program that records audio streaming such as Replay Music , i-Sound WMA/MP3 Recorder Professional, FreeCorder, Super-Mp3-Recorder, just to name a few.

But some broadcasters who may not want to have their streaming recorded have found methods to make audio streaming more difficult to record. By making use of data formats that are unpublished, or by encrypting them.

Some broadcasters fear that their streaming might be copied and distributed later, or be aired without commercials.

Whether users have the right to record certain streamings without permission has been subject to debate. This topic has now become an important issue surrounding audio streaming in regards to the application of laws in conjunction with the world wide web.

In the United States attempts to make audio stream recording illegal, may count on the protective laws of license agreements, patents, and copyrights.

So be very careful when it comes to recording audio streaming files. Make sure you are not violating protocol, or you could be in very serious trouble. Just make use of it the proper way, and everything should be smooth sailing. Sounds good?

Now if you’re an Internet marketer, audio streaming can very well help you with your marketing endeavors. It improves the way you send out to your prospects or your current customers. Your website’s welcome messages may become more effective through the use of audio streaming. You just have to be sure that your audio content sounds pleasant and is very conversational.

Aside from welcome pages, testimonials from satisfied customers can also be delivered more efficiently through audio streaming.

Blogs and newsletters can also benefit from audio streaming. Tips and product updates may be better conveyed if audio streaming is used.

With that information regarding the innovations brought by audio streaming, it surely won’t hurt to consider availing its help on any endeavor that you deem will need modern «sound effects».

Rebecca Hubbard
Hubbard Enterprises

– Links to streams and other stuff

4 Reasons why Portable Mp3 Players Take Content to The Next level   by Steve Gover

With the recent advent of the Ipod, a lot of people are using portable Mp3 players to carry their entire music collection around with them. What just a few years ago would have required you to lug a suitcase full of CDs around, now can fit in the palm of your hand. Some Ipods can carry up to 60Gb of songs (and now video) on a single miniature hard drive. The Ipod even looks cool and lights up like a magical glowing device. Besides Apple, numerous companies make portable Mp3 players

This doesn’t even begin to get into the phenomenon of podcasting. Podcasting is a simple concept with amazing utility for the average consumer. Imagine if you could take an audio broadcast of any sort (podcasting a teleseminar comes to mind) on the airplane with you on your next business trip.

1)You don’t have to be there when the teleseminar is held. 2)You can pause it, rewind it, fast forward the teleseminar to any point that you feel is important. 3)You can listen to it repeatedly. 4)You can send the podcast to friends and family members who can also take the audio content with them on their merry way.

I do this all the time. It works great. Download and go. This is bigger than you think. Overall, the ubiquity of portable Mp3 players is a cultural revolution as far as information transfer goes. Why do I have to wait for a broadcast when I can be in another time zone and replay it at my leisure.

When you take your Mp3 player on the road with you, you are basically shifting time. No more sitting around waiting for the video or audio presentation to start. You can download it to your portable Mp3 player and start it whenever you want.

Portable Mp3 players seem to be here to stay. Find out why and what the latest trends are: you’ll be surprised how you ever lived without one.

Steve Gover writes for ThePortableMp3players.com. ThePortableMp3players.com features articles about the best portable mp3 players.

How To Control The Music Download Madness   by Charles Cruz

After a while, people started to take advantage of this. They started adding pop ups, illegal spy software, among many other things to their sites. You downloaded an mp3 file and you got the file, but with it you had a shiny new browser window that told you to buy viagra everytime you surfed the web.

Fortunately, other resources came out. Legal Resources. Places were you can come inside and download music in a safe way, in a way you can trust.

These are cost effective, and if you compare it to the damage that could be caused by downloading the files from an illegal source, then the legal sources will outweight their value by tenfold.

When you’re downloading for and Mp3 music file online, there are a few things you will want to look for:

1) The quality of the Mp3. File quality can range anywhere from 20 kbps which is blurry quality to 320 kbps which is basically CD quality. You should aim for downloading music files that are above 128 kbps. Anything below that will have a trashy background that will not sound great when you burn it onto a CD.

2) You internet speed must be in a good shape. Sometimes it’s necessary to restart your computer to get it back to optimum speed before attempting to download any mp3 file. You’ll want anything over 3 kb/s to get the song in under 10 minutes.

3) Check you computer to make sure you have enough space on the drive you’re downloading your file. There’s nothing more annoying than getting to 75 percent of the download only to find out that you didn’t have enough room in your C: Drive. Nowadays with our hard drive’s spaces growing this is more unsual but it’s best to make sure before you start.

4) Make sure you don’t make illegal copies of the music you’re downloading. The best way to download music is to use them as samples for a music album. You download a music file, see if you like it, and if you do, you go ahead and buy the record. If you don’t then sample on to the next band. This way we keep the music industry going and it’s an all round win win situation.

All and all, downloading music is a great experience and you can even learn about new bands that you’ll want to go to the concert or buy the album later. Just make sure you do it from a legal source and keep your copies to yourself.

Charles Cruz CEO of Download Music Central (http://www.systemmastery.com/DownloadMusicOnline.html) Educating people on how to properly download movies online.

Legal Music Download Sites VS P2P File Sharing.    by Anna Rowe

This article compares the differences between legal music download sites VS file sharing networks.

1) Music files available for download:

The p2p file sharing networks heavily out number the legal music sites when it comes to the amount of files available for download. A p2p application provides millions of unlimited mp3 music files, while a legal music download site provides legitimately licensed music files in the hundreds of thousands.

2) The cost of downloading music:

You can download p2p file sharing networks for free, or for a very cheap one-time fee. A legal music download site is usually either «subscription-based» or «pay-per-download». A legal site will also usually charge extra for the ability to rip or burn music.

3) Variety of files available for download:

A legal music site mainly provides ONLY music files for downloading. A p2p application gives you, besides music files, full movie, game, video, software, TV show and ring-tone files to download as well.

4) Legal Issues & Controversy:

Legitimate legal music download sites are completely free of controversy and 100% legal to use. P2p file sharing networks, while legal, are not without lawsuit concerns and controversy due to how the file sharing technology can be used.

If you choose to use a p2p file sharing program, there are potential risks you need to be aware of, including:

Lawsuit Risks – Peer to peer file sharing networks have been ruled legal in a court of law. However, if you download and share «copyrighted material» you could risk becoming targeted, and possibly sued, by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America).

Virus And Privacy Risks – In using a file sharing application, you risk the possibility of installing harmful spyware, viruses, worms and malware on your computer. And if that’s not bad enough, many p2p applications also leave you exposed to online hackers and identity thieves that can steal you personal information.

Legal Music Download Sites VS P2P File Sharing – Summary:

At first glance the p2p file sharing networks may seem to offer an easy way to get unlimited free file downloads. But remember, nothing is really free and this is especially true with the p2p file sharing applications. The file sharing programs come with a price of increased privacy and security threats, and potential RIAA lawsuit risks.

The legitimately licensed music sites, that provides downloads of music legally licensed from the record labels and artists themselves, are the only way to get safe and legal music downloads online.

Article by Anna Rowe, webmaster of a popular online music download site that provides free mp3 music download reviews and quality online music download solutions. Music

How to Control the Music Download Madness   by Charles Cruz

After following the trend of users coming on to the internet to download music, many resources started to come out offering you the latests downloads. At the very beggining this was great for most users.

After a while, people started to take advantage of this. They started adding pop ups, illegal spy software, among many other things to their sites. You downloaded an mp3 file and you got the file, but with it you had a shiny new browser window that told you to buy viagra everytime you surfed the web.

Fortunately, other resources came out. Legal Resources. Places were you can come inside and download music in a safe way, in a way you can trust.

These are cost effective, and if you compare it to the damage that could be caused by downloading the files from an illegal source, then the legal sources will outweight their value by tenfold.

When you’re downloading for and Mp3 music file online, there are a few things you will want to look for:

1) The quality of the Mp3. File quality can range anywhere from 20 kbps which is blurry quality to 320 kbps which is basically CD quality. You should aim for downloading music files that are above 128 kbps. Anything below that will have a trashy background that will not sound great when you burn it onto a CD.

2) You internet speed must be in a good shape. Sometimes it’s necessary to restart your computer to get it back to optimum speed before attempting to download any mp3 file. You’ll want anything over 3 kb/s to get the song in under 10 minutes.

3) Check you computer to make sure you have enough space on the drive you’re downloading your file. There’s nothing more annoying than getting to 75 percent of the download only to find out that you didn’t have enough room in your C: Drive. Nowadays with our hard drive’s spaces growing this is more unsual but it’s best to make sure before you start.

4) Make sure you don’t make illegal copies of the music you’re downloading. The best way to download music is to use them as samples for a music album. You download a music file, see if you like it, and if you do, you go ahead and buy the record. If you don’t then sample on to the next band. This way we keep the music industry going and it’s an all round win win situation.

All and all, downloading music is a great experience and you can even learn about new bands that you’ll want to go to the concert or buy the album later. Just make sure you do it from a legal source and keep your copies to yourself.

The absolute worst way to download music on the internet   by Charles Cruz

You get into the online music world. You’ve had this song playing in the back of your mind all day and now you’ve decided that you want to download it. You search for it specifically and find that there’s a site that is offering you exactly the song you want for free.

All you had to do is give them your email. You download it. The next thing you know you have a pop up coming out every time you open your browser window.

You failed to notice all the signs that told you this was going to happen. The banners, the smiley ads, the popups, you just thought you could download it in a clean file.

This happens every day. This is what happens to many people that are looking to download music online. They fall prey to the illegal sources taking advantage of millions of people downloading music out there.

Fortunately people are smartening up and starting to notice that illegal downloads from dubious sites are something to stay away from from the beggining. They are starting to notice and become aware that these downloads sometimes can cost you many times the price of a of a single music file download and can be hazardous to your computer.

There are new alternatives to download music that are proven to be cost effective and can become a «one for all» kind of resource that you can turn to. Places where you can just search for that tune you want (the one that’s been on your head all day), point on it and download it without having to worry about getting a trojan virus just for doing so.

I highly recommend for the sake of your computer, your peace of mind and to avoid downloading bogus files, for you to be sure you download all your songs from a legal source that you can trust. There’s nothing better than having the confidence that when you open up an Mp3 file you just downloaded and knowing it’s going to play exactly what you had in mind.

When you do it like this, when you do it the smart way, it all becomes much simpler, more effective and a ride that you’ll want to repeat over and over again. That’s all there is to downloading music when you’re doing it right. Next thing you know you’re cranking your mp3’s on your computer you’re playing them as loud as you can.

Do You Download Music Over A File-Sharing Network?   by Jason A. Martin

It can be estimated that millions of people around the world share music over a file-sharing network. For this article, I am addressing the issue in America mainly because I am not aware of the laws in other countries. Do you think it is illegal to download music from file-sharing networks? What about music you already own? An important recent court decision will answer these questions directly and you might be surprised.

Recently the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit heard a case against a Chicago woman, Cecilia Gonzalez. Many plaintiffs including BMG, Sony and others brought the case against her. Gonzalez allegedly had downloaded over 1,000 songs through KaZaA–although she admitted to only 30. Keep that number in mind, 30. Many, if not just about all, people who download files over a file-sharing network don’t stop at one file. Thirty files can be reached in minutes to an hour without thought. In fact, it was alleged that Gonzalez downloaded 1,370 songs in just a few weeks, which is an average of 65 songs per day.

If you where caught downloading thirty songs over a file-sharing network, what would your defense be? Let’s look at two specific common defenses and see how a court might react. I have selected two defenses that I feel are most common, because they not only appear in the court case I have referenced, but many others I have surveyed would try to use them as their defense as well.

First Defense: I was simply trying out the songs to see if I liked them and then I planned to buy the ones I liked and erase the ones I don’t. (Simplified: try-before-you-buy)

Judge Eastbrook, one of the judges hearing the Gonzalez case, pointed out that this defense is not valid because one had many avenues to hear music before purchasing. Eastbrook names iTunes, radio, internet radio, Yahoo! Music and others as ways to legally try before buying. If this was going to be your defense, you will lose.

Second Defense: I am only downloading music that I already own.

This seems like a great defense, at first. You already own the music and the law allows you to create a backup copy. Ah, but here is where it goes south. Downloading music you already own is not considered fair use under the U.S. Copyright Law and your action is therefore copyright infringement. See UMG Recordings Inc. v. MP3.com, Inc., 92 F. Supp. 2d 349.

Furthermore, the try-before-you-buy scenario is really blown away by the fact that you no longer need to buy CD’s in whole. iTunes really helped change the legal arena in this respect because a user can both sample songs at their leisure and purchase single songs. The ability to purchase single songs is the big one.

In the end, Gonzalez lost her case. The thirty songs, that would have cost $29.70 at iTunes, will end up costing her $22,500 in damages–imagine what it would be if the plaintiffs had pushed for a decision on all 1,370 songs. She was given the opportunity to settle for $3,500 before going to court, which she declined–another bad decision. If you download music over file-sharing networks and are caught, what will be your legal defense?

Jason A. Martin is a Journalism Major (Political Science minor) and future law school student. His blog deals with Politics, Media and the Law. You can view it at JasonAMartin.com Subscribe!