by: Ty Cohen
How to Get Noticed By Those
Who Can REALLY Help Your Music Career!
As you or your band performs, be it from club to club around town or nationally, there is usually one thing lingering in the back of your mind
..
How do you go about getting that one big break that will push you ahead toward greater recognition and success artistically?
You know it happens to artist and bands all the time. That time could come soon for your group to break out of the local scene and land that recording contract or national tour that will get you on your way to greater success.
You know there are tried and true methods. Having a great demo or being interviewed on the local radio shows at once seemed like a good idea. But times have changed in the music industry. In this article, we will discuss some up-to-date information and inside tips on how to get noticed in this tough business, in short I�ll give you some info that will literally place on the music industry radar screen. The knowledge that I�m about to share with you will work for any and everyone: Songwriters, Singers, Musicians, Rappers and for all genres of music: Pop, Rock, Rap, Gospel, R&B, Jazz, Grunge, Country and everything in between!
Where are the Scouts?
You have had the thought run through your mind as you perform for an enthusiastic crowd in a club or bar. Are there music industry scouts in this crowd? Maybe you just laugh it off but you have heard that they are out there watching bands like yours and signing the talented ones to develop into stars.
What you have heard is true. Industry insiders tell us that now more than ever, scouts are everywhere. You may worry that you are not living in one of the big �music industry towns� like New York, Chicago, L.A. and Nashville but that isn�t important. Remember, Seattle wasn�t on the map before grunge hit and they found Sir Mix A-Lot and for you Rock Heads, Kurt and Eddie.
But what if you don�t always have the biggest audience in town. Well, some of the biggest acts in the music business were �discovered� playing to a small and intimate crowd. If your performance is strong and you are getting good word of mouth, the music industry scouts will find you and check you out. So perform every night like they are out there because there is no reason to believe that they are not.
Go Get Them
But you don�t have to sit around and wait for them to come to you. The new �hunting grounds� for bands and talent are well known to the insiders. Once you know who it is that is feeding the information to music industry scouts and agents, you can learn the tricks of the trade to feed information about you or your band into that system. Here are a few of the newest methods and venues you can use to get yourself noticed:
* Perform, Perform, Perform. These days the local club scene is the most important way to get noticed. Don�t wear yourself out chasing agents or scouts. If your performances are strong, that will create a buzz and the word of mouth will get you noticed. Then the scouts will come to see you rather than you having to go and chase them.
* Build your relationship with your audience. Insiders tell us that scouts will come to a show for a musical venue they don�t even understand. If you are doing something bold and new that they are not able to evaluate musically, they will go by the crowd. If your audience responds with excitement and enthusiasm, that is what gets the eyes and ears of music executives. So pour yourself into the people for whom you are performing. That�s what you love to do anyway so it�s an easy way to get noticed and the right way too.
* Build your local network. Industry agents know club owners and booking agents for local events very well. If you have a strong reputation with them, they will pass that information along to the scouts who are looking for new talent.
* Indie (independent) labels are also a rich source of information for the larger recording houses to find out about up and coming bands. You may have indie labels near by so get to know them and get them to your shows so when they have a chance to connect you to a scout, your band is on their list of hot new acts.
* Never miss a chance to network but look for innovative ways to advertise yourself as well. The internet has lots of new and interesting sites that scouts are starting to watch for new talent. If you have the resources, get a web page up and get some MP3 samples of your performances out there. You can easily set up a website using a service like http://www.MyWebSiteMyMusic.com and you can also easily put your music on your site or anywhere else online, even in emails in MP3 format using a service like the one offered at http://www.ListenToMyMusicOnline.com .
The services offered by these two websites are extremely inexpensive and so simple to use, a 5 year old could do it, yet they will have you looking like a music industry professional in no time at all.
Is the Demo Dead?
From what we have learned so far, you would think the demo is ready to go into the hall of fame as an out-of-date tool. But the demo tape still has some real value to you. The best demo is one that showcases not only your musical skill but the personality and the performance skill of you or your band. If you can have someone put a demo together from one of your performances, that gives an agent or scout a bit of a feel for what to expect from you when he comes to see you.
So treat the demo as part of your bag of tricks but it isn�t the thing that is going to seal the deal. If a scout likes what he hears or at least his curiosity is peaked, he will then seek out ways to see you live. Then we are back to the club atmosphere, your relationship with your crowd and your performance. Those are the things that will get you noticed in a way that will lead to bigger breaks. Look at the demo as just the hook with a little bit of bait on it. You can also use your demo on your web page along with some video footage of your live performance to showcase the excitement of your shows. Remember both http://www.ListenToMyMusicOnline.com and http://www.MyWebSiteMyMusic.com offer some of the best services in the industry for doing this.
Video Didn�t Kill the Radio Star
Radio used to be the primary medium for distributing information about new acts and for getting your music played and noticed. But changes in ownership of radio stations and in how they are programmed have changed that too. The radio station is no longer a significant communication channel for you to use to get on the music industry radar screen.
A lot of factors have dropped radio off the radar screen for getting noticed. Airplay is not as much of a factor as it used to be when there was a lot of diversity in radio. Radio is nearly a monopoly with all of the play list decisions made by one central national firm. So if you think that any one individual at your area radio stations makes airplay decisions, you should revise that opinion because they do not. This little insider tip alone can save you huge amounts of wasted energy and frustration when trying to get noticed.
But don�t worry, scouts and music industry agents know they will not find the new, the innovative and the creative music on radio. They have turned from it to use local networking and club performances as their radar screen for new talent.
You do the same. Do not concern yourself a great deal with local radio coverage. Even college radio is virtually a dead venue for getting noticed in this new market. Focus on where the real contacts are being made today, through local contacts, word of mouth and above all club and local festival performances. Other good habits include using music industry contact directories like the one found at http://www.MusicBizPhoneBook.com which list contact information to over 20,000 important people in the music industry.
It�s all in your network and what is happening on the street that will make the difference between you getting noticed or not. In a way, that�s the way it always should have been, having the focus placed on your band talent, performance skill and live shows. That is where your strength is anyway. Be a savvy marketer and use this knowledge to raise the awareness of your band, your talent, your songs and your performances.
About the author:
This article was written by Ty Cohen, the music industry's most recognizable voice! Ty is the C.E.O of Platinum Millennium Publishing and Platinum Millennium Records as well as owner of: http://www.MusicContractsOnline.comand http://www.MusicBusinesSuccess.com
To find out more about Ty Cohen, his services, products and how he may be able to help you succeed in the music industry go to: http://www.MusicBusinesSuccess.comand sign up for his free limited edition music industry success 10-part "Mini-Course", it will work wonders for you and best of all, it's FREE, but EXTREMELY VALUABLE!
Senin, 01 Desember 2008
iRiver leaders in mp3players
by: Eddie Miller
The first multi-codec MP3 CD player was released by iRiver in 2000. Since this time iRiver has become a household name with their portable digital products and markets throughout the world.
The very first portable digital device that was released by iRiver was the SlimX. This was known as the thinnest MP3 CD player in the entire world. From that time, forward iRiver has created many new and innovative products such as flash memory MP3 players such as the iFP-300 Series and the PMP-100 Series.
iRiver is a strategic partner with Microsoft and work together to produce some of the most advanced next-generation digital portable players around. Other electronic partners include Phillips, Samsung Electronics, Hitachi and Texas Instruments.
Today, iRiver is a leader in development and manufacturing of portable digital devices and established a sister company by the name of Yurion. With this company, iRiver develops hardware and software solutions for the development and delivery of digital content. This business arraignment will bring us more quality digital portable players in the years to come.
iRiver believes in staying ahead of the competition by planning, developing, producing and marketing the reigncom products that will revitalize the world. They believe in producing products that are easy to use with easy access. Their products are created with fast and convenient interfaces for maximum use. In addition, they pride themselves on creating high quality products with the best designs to fit our busy lifestyles.
Their line of business includes portable audio, portable video, digital convergence, and multimedia content.
iRiver will go the extra mile to ensure that their customers the world over receive the best quality and most innovative portable digital devices when they shop for any products. You can trust in the name iRiver to bring you the best that technology has to offer when it comes to portable digital devices and accessories.
About the author:
UK MP3 are the UK's foremost MP3 player shop and review site. We write accurate, unbiased reviews of all the MP3 players we stock, and have a large number of customer reviews, so you can be confident you know what you are getting when you buy your MP3 player
The first multi-codec MP3 CD player was released by iRiver in 2000. Since this time iRiver has become a household name with their portable digital products and markets throughout the world.
The very first portable digital device that was released by iRiver was the SlimX. This was known as the thinnest MP3 CD player in the entire world. From that time, forward iRiver has created many new and innovative products such as flash memory MP3 players such as the iFP-300 Series and the PMP-100 Series.
iRiver is a strategic partner with Microsoft and work together to produce some of the most advanced next-generation digital portable players around. Other electronic partners include Phillips, Samsung Electronics, Hitachi and Texas Instruments.
Today, iRiver is a leader in development and manufacturing of portable digital devices and established a sister company by the name of Yurion. With this company, iRiver develops hardware and software solutions for the development and delivery of digital content. This business arraignment will bring us more quality digital portable players in the years to come.
iRiver believes in staying ahead of the competition by planning, developing, producing and marketing the reigncom products that will revitalize the world. They believe in producing products that are easy to use with easy access. Their products are created with fast and convenient interfaces for maximum use. In addition, they pride themselves on creating high quality products with the best designs to fit our busy lifestyles.
Their line of business includes portable audio, portable video, digital convergence, and multimedia content.
iRiver will go the extra mile to ensure that their customers the world over receive the best quality and most innovative portable digital devices when they shop for any products. You can trust in the name iRiver to bring you the best that technology has to offer when it comes to portable digital devices and accessories.
About the author:
UK MP3 are the UK's foremost MP3 player shop and review site. We write accurate, unbiased reviews of all the MP3 players we stock, and have a large number of customer reviews, so you can be confident you know what you are getting when you buy your MP3 player
Is it Possible to Download Music Legally Anymore?
by: Jeff Schuman II
Throughout the past few years downloading music on the internet
has increased in popularity. At the same time though, it has
become illegal through many companies to download music as
musicians and artists have been losing money on their CD sales.
With many people being sued in the past couple years for
downloading music, is it really possible to download music
legally anymore? If so, at what price will it cost you to
download music?
As music sites such as Napster and Kazaa and many more have
attempted to create sites to download music for free, they have
just increased the problem that much more. Some of the users of
these programs have learned the hard way that music does not
come free, as they were sued for illegally downloading music.
Today there are many sites in which you can download music at
where they claim it is 100% legal. The latest music file
formats used are Windows® Media (WMA), Advanced Acoustic Coding
(AAC) and Atrac 3, and are very popular as it increases the
sound quality making it closer to an actual CD bought in stores.
Another great advantage is that many sites such as
SonicSelector Service on MSN allow you to preview the music
before buying it. Many sites today also offer a three-day trial
of their music downloading site, and then after that you will
have to begin paying a monthly fee. So it is possible to
download music legally online, but at what cost?
Pressplay.com offers unlimited music for a price of $9.95 per
month and then you also have to install the software from their
site. The downloaded music is non-burnable and once your
subscription runs out you no longer have access to any of your
songs. Rhapsody at listen.com also charges $9.95 per month for
non-burnable music, but instead of downloading the music you
download a music player that gives you access to the songs.
Now you can download music and you know the basic price per
month for non-burnable songs. However, most people download
music so that they can burn their favorite CD with a variety of
songs. Transferring these songs onto a CD or a personal MP3
player will cost you even more. Many sites offer packages for
songs capable of burning as oppose to a set price per song.
For example, Pressplay offers 5 burnable songs for $5.95, 10
burnable songs for $9.95, 20 burnable songs for $18.95, and then
on top of those prices you are still required to pay the monthly
fee to use the program. MusicNet offers a package for $17.95 a
month that comes with unlimited downloading music and 10
burnable songs.
There are other sites such as apple.com/itunes that is priced at
99 cents to download a song and there is no monthly fee, but you
must own a Mac in order to do this. Sites such as mp3.com,
peoplesound.com, and soundclick.com all offer free music to
download and burn. The catch is that these sites offer a
majority of unknown artists and songs.
With the exception of the last few sites I have mentioned, you
will find a relatively large selection of music to choose from
in all of these sites. Not one of the sites offers less than
300,000 songs to choose from with all of the biggest names in
the music industry such as Eminem, Britney Spears, and even
oldies such as Elvis, The Beatles, and Frank Sinatra.
There are websites out there that are 100% legal for you to
download music at. The question now is how much money are you
willing to pay to download all of the hottest songs today, and
are you willing to pay extra to put those songs onto a CD?
About the author:
Jeff Schuman is the creator of Best-MP3-Music-Downloads.com
where you can buy CD’s and find all of the best free music
downloads.
http://www.best-mp3-music-downloads.com
Throughout the past few years downloading music on the internet
has increased in popularity. At the same time though, it has
become illegal through many companies to download music as
musicians and artists have been losing money on their CD sales.
With many people being sued in the past couple years for
downloading music, is it really possible to download music
legally anymore? If so, at what price will it cost you to
download music?
As music sites such as Napster and Kazaa and many more have
attempted to create sites to download music for free, they have
just increased the problem that much more. Some of the users of
these programs have learned the hard way that music does not
come free, as they were sued for illegally downloading music.
Today there are many sites in which you can download music at
where they claim it is 100% legal. The latest music file
formats used are Windows® Media (WMA), Advanced Acoustic Coding
(AAC) and Atrac 3, and are very popular as it increases the
sound quality making it closer to an actual CD bought in stores.
Another great advantage is that many sites such as
SonicSelector Service on MSN allow you to preview the music
before buying it. Many sites today also offer a three-day trial
of their music downloading site, and then after that you will
have to begin paying a monthly fee. So it is possible to
download music legally online, but at what cost?
Pressplay.com offers unlimited music for a price of $9.95 per
month and then you also have to install the software from their
site. The downloaded music is non-burnable and once your
subscription runs out you no longer have access to any of your
songs. Rhapsody at listen.com also charges $9.95 per month for
non-burnable music, but instead of downloading the music you
download a music player that gives you access to the songs.
Now you can download music and you know the basic price per
month for non-burnable songs. However, most people download
music so that they can burn their favorite CD with a variety of
songs. Transferring these songs onto a CD or a personal MP3
player will cost you even more. Many sites offer packages for
songs capable of burning as oppose to a set price per song.
For example, Pressplay offers 5 burnable songs for $5.95, 10
burnable songs for $9.95, 20 burnable songs for $18.95, and then
on top of those prices you are still required to pay the monthly
fee to use the program. MusicNet offers a package for $17.95 a
month that comes with unlimited downloading music and 10
burnable songs.
There are other sites such as apple.com/itunes that is priced at
99 cents to download a song and there is no monthly fee, but you
must own a Mac in order to do this. Sites such as mp3.com,
peoplesound.com, and soundclick.com all offer free music to
download and burn. The catch is that these sites offer a
majority of unknown artists and songs.
With the exception of the last few sites I have mentioned, you
will find a relatively large selection of music to choose from
in all of these sites. Not one of the sites offers less than
300,000 songs to choose from with all of the biggest names in
the music industry such as Eminem, Britney Spears, and even
oldies such as Elvis, The Beatles, and Frank Sinatra.
There are websites out there that are 100% legal for you to
download music at. The question now is how much money are you
willing to pay to download all of the hottest songs today, and
are you willing to pay extra to put those songs onto a CD?
About the author:
Jeff Schuman is the creator of Best-MP3-Music-Downloads.com
where you can buy CD’s and find all of the best free music
downloads.
http://www.best-mp3-music-downloads.com
Legally Download Music and MP3's
by: Charles Oakland
Downloading music is one of the greatest things about owning a computer. However, the most popular way to do it is illegal. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is trying to stop anyone from downloading music illegally and have recently been passing out hefty fines to prevent downloading.
In the wake of a Supreme Court ruling, companies can be sued for encouraging illegal downloading, most notably and recently Kazaa. With the recent shutdown of the top music downloading networks, one has to ask:
Can I Still Download Music?
Yes, at plenty of Web sites, some requiring payments and some free. Pay sites that have licensing agreements with the entertainment industry -- such as iTunes, Rhapsody, Yahoo Music and others -- are panting for your business. Sites battling the industry such as Grokster and Morpheus -- which were targeted in Monday's decision -- face a cloudier future. While the Supreme Court sent their case back to a federal appeals court for trial, they are almost sure to lose. They and other file-sharing services that allow for sharing of copyrighted files -- and make money off it, through advertising and other means -- may fold or have to change their sites drastically.
Unfortunately these top profile downloading sites often charge a hefty fee for their access. Basic membership fees often cost upwards of $30 a month, while tracks start at $1 a piece. Alternatives have arisen that promise to give you the same amount of content but at a cheaper price.
These alternatives include: MP3-share, mp3downloadhq, legal music access, and online download network. Reviews of these programs can be found at http://music.webreviews.ca managed by http://webreviews.ca
About the author:
Charles Oakland is a journalist by nature who manage the popular web review site: Free Web Reviews Free MP3 Reviews
Downloading music is one of the greatest things about owning a computer. However, the most popular way to do it is illegal. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is trying to stop anyone from downloading music illegally and have recently been passing out hefty fines to prevent downloading.
In the wake of a Supreme Court ruling, companies can be sued for encouraging illegal downloading, most notably and recently Kazaa. With the recent shutdown of the top music downloading networks, one has to ask:
Can I Still Download Music?
Yes, at plenty of Web sites, some requiring payments and some free. Pay sites that have licensing agreements with the entertainment industry -- such as iTunes, Rhapsody, Yahoo Music and others -- are panting for your business. Sites battling the industry such as Grokster and Morpheus -- which were targeted in Monday's decision -- face a cloudier future. While the Supreme Court sent their case back to a federal appeals court for trial, they are almost sure to lose. They and other file-sharing services that allow for sharing of copyrighted files -- and make money off it, through advertising and other means -- may fold or have to change their sites drastically.
Unfortunately these top profile downloading sites often charge a hefty fee for their access. Basic membership fees often cost upwards of $30 a month, while tracks start at $1 a piece. Alternatives have arisen that promise to give you the same amount of content but at a cheaper price.
These alternatives include: MP3-share, mp3downloadhq, legal music access, and online download network. Reviews of these programs can be found at http://music.webreviews.ca managed by http://webreviews.ca
About the author:
Charles Oakland is a journalist by nature who manage the popular web review site: Free Web Reviews Free MP3 Reviews
Living Life Loud
by: Shannon Mott
The music industry is changing – one click at a time
Change is good. Just ask the millions of unsigned artists worldwide trying to get their music heard. Since the music industry is changing drastically, unsigned musicians are able to make their music available to listeners.
Record labels are realizing new techniques need to be created in order to promote music, and find new talent.
The result has been a surge of music-based websites. These sites allow artists to create their own websites, upload MP3s and promote music free of cost. One website which has received much attention is iSOUND.COM.
A musician himself, D.J. Burdick’s purpose has been clear from the beginning: create a website that allows unsigned artists to upload MP3s so they can share their music with the world. Burdick, the founder and creator of the music-based website iSOUND.COM, began his career in 1999, shortly after graduating from high school. At first, the main focus of iSOUND.COM was to give visitors more information about their favorite bands.
“I was looking for information about artists I liked, and I couldn’t find anything comprehensive on the Internet,” says Burdick. “So, I decided to create my own website.”
He then spent one year developing and implementing iSOUND.COM. In 2000, Burdick relocated to Dallas, Texas to attend Southern Methodist University. In Dallas, Burdick realized that it was difficult to find gigs and get his music heard. That is when he had an idea.
“I decided to expand iSOUND.COM. I wanted to make it a music community where artists could share their music with the world,” says Burdick.
While attending university, Burdick continued working on his website. In 2004, he graduated from SMU’s Cox School of Business. Along with a few college friends, he decided to make iSOUND.COM his full-time career.
“Working on my own company has allowed me to work on what I’m truly passionate about. I get to focus on what I believe in,” says Burdick. “I wanted to make iSOUND.COM my full-time job because I had so many ideas. Working for a large, established company may provide more security but that wasn’t dynamic enough for me. I needed something that would allow me to control the vision of the business and let me implement my business ideas. It is very rewarding to see over a million people visiting iSOUND per month who are sharing in this vision and desire to bring great unheard music to the masses.”
The music industry is changing drastically. MP3s are no longer just about illegal pirating and file sharing. In fact, MP3s are becoming imperative to unsigned artists wishing to promote their music on the Internet. There are tons of talented artists out there. Unfortunately, they do not have the money to push into advertising or music promotion. The solution to this problem: level the playing field by promoting on the internet.
“The [music] industry is going through a huge transitional phase. Everything is changing and the [record] labels are realizing this. They are now using many of the same avenues to promote their artists as those available to unsigned artists,” says Burdick.
In fact, a complete industry of music-based websites has developed, allowing musicians to promote their music over the Internet. The way iSOUND.COM works is that artists may sign up and upload their music for free. Staff members then listen to the songs and rate the music. Listeners visit the site, discover new music, and earn points for sharing that music with their friends. The most popular artists on iSOUND.COM receive thousands of plays per month. Musicians can literally gain thousands of new fans just by uploading their music onto popular music websites and networking via those sites.
“There is a growing group of signed bands getting a large share of radio and [music] video play that started entirely by promoting on the Internet and playing small clubs,” says Burdick. “The future of music is on the Internet. Get your music uploaded, spend a few hours a week promoting online, and you’ll be amazed at the results.”
About the author:
Shannon Mott is a freelance writer and employee of iSOUND.COM
The music industry is changing – one click at a time
Change is good. Just ask the millions of unsigned artists worldwide trying to get their music heard. Since the music industry is changing drastically, unsigned musicians are able to make their music available to listeners.
Record labels are realizing new techniques need to be created in order to promote music, and find new talent.
The result has been a surge of music-based websites. These sites allow artists to create their own websites, upload MP3s and promote music free of cost. One website which has received much attention is iSOUND.COM.
A musician himself, D.J. Burdick’s purpose has been clear from the beginning: create a website that allows unsigned artists to upload MP3s so they can share their music with the world. Burdick, the founder and creator of the music-based website iSOUND.COM, began his career in 1999, shortly after graduating from high school. At first, the main focus of iSOUND.COM was to give visitors more information about their favorite bands.
“I was looking for information about artists I liked, and I couldn’t find anything comprehensive on the Internet,” says Burdick. “So, I decided to create my own website.”
He then spent one year developing and implementing iSOUND.COM. In 2000, Burdick relocated to Dallas, Texas to attend Southern Methodist University. In Dallas, Burdick realized that it was difficult to find gigs and get his music heard. That is when he had an idea.
“I decided to expand iSOUND.COM. I wanted to make it a music community where artists could share their music with the world,” says Burdick.
While attending university, Burdick continued working on his website. In 2004, he graduated from SMU’s Cox School of Business. Along with a few college friends, he decided to make iSOUND.COM his full-time career.
“Working on my own company has allowed me to work on what I’m truly passionate about. I get to focus on what I believe in,” says Burdick. “I wanted to make iSOUND.COM my full-time job because I had so many ideas. Working for a large, established company may provide more security but that wasn’t dynamic enough for me. I needed something that would allow me to control the vision of the business and let me implement my business ideas. It is very rewarding to see over a million people visiting iSOUND per month who are sharing in this vision and desire to bring great unheard music to the masses.”
The music industry is changing drastically. MP3s are no longer just about illegal pirating and file sharing. In fact, MP3s are becoming imperative to unsigned artists wishing to promote their music on the Internet. There are tons of talented artists out there. Unfortunately, they do not have the money to push into advertising or music promotion. The solution to this problem: level the playing field by promoting on the internet.
“The [music] industry is going through a huge transitional phase. Everything is changing and the [record] labels are realizing this. They are now using many of the same avenues to promote their artists as those available to unsigned artists,” says Burdick.
In fact, a complete industry of music-based websites has developed, allowing musicians to promote their music over the Internet. The way iSOUND.COM works is that artists may sign up and upload their music for free. Staff members then listen to the songs and rate the music. Listeners visit the site, discover new music, and earn points for sharing that music with their friends. The most popular artists on iSOUND.COM receive thousands of plays per month. Musicians can literally gain thousands of new fans just by uploading their music onto popular music websites and networking via those sites.
“There is a growing group of signed bands getting a large share of radio and [music] video play that started entirely by promoting on the Internet and playing small clubs,” says Burdick. “The future of music is on the Internet. Get your music uploaded, spend a few hours a week promoting online, and you’ll be amazed at the results.”
About the author:
Shannon Mott is a freelance writer and employee of iSOUND.COM
Looking For an MP3 Player?
by: Levi Bloom
If you don’t have an mp3 player, and even if you do, you should check out all the new stuff that’s going on. I’m hoping this article will give you some idea of what kind of mp3 player you want and some tips on what to look for in an mp3 player.
Maybe you work out and need something small and skip-proof for running or lifting. Maybe you have an 8 hour (or longer) plane ride when you go home and need to pass the time. Maybe you want a new one just for the sake of having a new one. Whatever it is, this article should help you choose.
First, for those of you who want something for working out: The two most important things to look for are size/weight and solid state memory, things CD players lack. You want something that you can clip to your shorts or strap to your arm that won’t interfere with your movements, and you want it to be light enough so you don’t even notice it. (Tip: Get a lithium ion battery to save even more weight.) To be sure that your player will not skip if you move too much or too fast, get one with solid state internal Flash memory, which has no moving parts so it can’t skip. These are usually available as 64 to 512 MB models, with a 64 MB model holding roughly an hour of music. Prices typically range from $100 to $300.
On the other hand, you may want to store all 16,000 songs in your collection on your mp3 player so you never hear the same one twice. In this case you need a hard drive based mp3 player, commonly known as an mp3 jukebox, for which you could pay up to $500. It will be a little bigger and heavier than and not quite as durable as a solid state mp3 player, but that isn’t a concern if you just want to sit around and listen to music. And they are still far more portable than a CD player.
Torn between a small, light, solid state mp3 player and a hard drive based player that holds thousands of songs? Well, the iPod Mini may be for you! The iPod Mini is just one model in a new breed of small hard drive mp3 players. They are a little lighter and smaller than normal hard drive players, and hold more songs than the average solid state mp3 player. (Did I mention the iPod Mini comes in blue, green, gold, and pink?) That’s it for the main differences, but here are some more things you should look for when making a purchase: long battery life, an FM tuner, voice recorder, an easy to read screen, and compatibility with your computer.
If you’re looking to purchase online, I recommend www.amazon.com. But first you should check www.mp3-player-guide.com (which has a buyer’s guide and reviews) so you can make a better decision.
About the author:
Levi Bloom has been studying mp3 players for the past few years, so he knows his stuff. If you want more, check out his websites: http://mp3-player-guide.comand http://thoughtyouhadeverything.com
If you don’t have an mp3 player, and even if you do, you should check out all the new stuff that’s going on. I’m hoping this article will give you some idea of what kind of mp3 player you want and some tips on what to look for in an mp3 player.
Maybe you work out and need something small and skip-proof for running or lifting. Maybe you have an 8 hour (or longer) plane ride when you go home and need to pass the time. Maybe you want a new one just for the sake of having a new one. Whatever it is, this article should help you choose.
First, for those of you who want something for working out: The two most important things to look for are size/weight and solid state memory, things CD players lack. You want something that you can clip to your shorts or strap to your arm that won’t interfere with your movements, and you want it to be light enough so you don’t even notice it. (Tip: Get a lithium ion battery to save even more weight.) To be sure that your player will not skip if you move too much or too fast, get one with solid state internal Flash memory, which has no moving parts so it can’t skip. These are usually available as 64 to 512 MB models, with a 64 MB model holding roughly an hour of music. Prices typically range from $100 to $300.
On the other hand, you may want to store all 16,000 songs in your collection on your mp3 player so you never hear the same one twice. In this case you need a hard drive based mp3 player, commonly known as an mp3 jukebox, for which you could pay up to $500. It will be a little bigger and heavier than and not quite as durable as a solid state mp3 player, but that isn’t a concern if you just want to sit around and listen to music. And they are still far more portable than a CD player.
Torn between a small, light, solid state mp3 player and a hard drive based player that holds thousands of songs? Well, the iPod Mini may be for you! The iPod Mini is just one model in a new breed of small hard drive mp3 players. They are a little lighter and smaller than normal hard drive players, and hold more songs than the average solid state mp3 player. (Did I mention the iPod Mini comes in blue, green, gold, and pink?) That’s it for the main differences, but here are some more things you should look for when making a purchase: long battery life, an FM tuner, voice recorder, an easy to read screen, and compatibility with your computer.
If you’re looking to purchase online, I recommend www.amazon.com. But first you should check www.mp3-player-guide.com (which has a buyer’s guide and reviews) so you can make a better decision.
About the author:
Levi Bloom has been studying mp3 players for the past few years, so he knows his stuff. If you want more, check out his websites: http://mp3-player-guide.comand http://thoughtyouhadeverything.com
Media Player Shootout
by: James Kendall
Whether you call them media players, jukeboxes, mp3 apps, music managers, or whatever - we all need a proggy to listen to our digital music with, so we decided it was time for the Online Music Blog ( http://www.onlinemusicblog.com ) media player shootout. For the sake of this article I am only going to discuss players you can get for free and I am not going to go into p2p apps.
So with that, lets dive right in. For my money there are are only 3 choices - Winamp, iTunes, or Windows Media Players - but I'll talk a little about RealPlayer 10 as well. All of these applications share baseline features - playing various media files, cataloging digital media, etc. We'll focus on things about them that are different.
Back in the day, we had Winamp, and it was good. Unfortunately the original Nullsoft team has all moved on and instead of the hacker cred that Winamp used to have back when Justin Frankel et all were on the job it is now just another corporate media player with a hazy future.
Winamp lost a lot of momentum that it had when it released a ( very ) bad Winamp3 - but with the release of Winamp5 they seem to be back on track - it is useable, responsive, and has a lot of plugins and skins created for it.
The major problem is that for all of it's features it is not much, if any, better then the two dominant media players that are tied to successful music stores iTunes and WMP. Additionally you have to pay $14.95 to get the pro version that add features that iTunes and WMP include for free. One of the bonuses of using Winamp is the ability to tune into all of the cool shoutcast radio stations.
iTunes is, of course, is the digital jukebox front end for the iPod and the iTunes music store from apple computer. The iTunes music store was the first to get pay for digital music downloads right and it still has the largest legal downloadable catalog on the net giving the iTunes jukebox a hefty advantage.
If you are using a Mac then it is a no brainer - you should be using iTunes as you media player, but even if you are using Windows iTunes provides an attractive alternative. The iTunes store is superior ( imho ) to the Windows Media based stores such as Napster and with the legendary Apple ease of use in full effect iTunes makes a great Windows based Jukebox. Noteworthy is the Apple Lossless codec that allows one to rip CD's to the ACC format that sound as good as the CD itself to our ears. On the negative side, the iTunes jukebox feels heavy on moderately powered PC's compared to Winamp or WMP. It runs a little slower, seems to use more resources, etc.
Last (of yea, except for RealPlayer... ) Windows Media Player 10 is one of Microsoft's best pieces of software and is some much better then the last generation of MS media players. The jukebox itself is stuffed with features such as its ability to monitor changes to your digital media files and update itself, simple sync and burn, ratings, and the auto tag features are all very nice.
One of the changes in V.10 is the ability to rip files if the format and with ( or without ) the DRM of your choice. You also get the ability to listen to Internet radio streams with WMP, and although they tend to be more corporate then the hip shoutcast radio you can still find some good music. WMP also features a lossless ripping of CD's but I was less impressed with the results then I was with Apples Lossless.
And finally there is RealPlayer. The free RealPlayer 10 is better then previous version although that is not saying much imho. It still takes over your file formats by default, tries to force you register, runs in the background (phoning home ?) unless you can find the settings to tell it not to - all of the problems that it has always have. I say stay as far away from Real as possible even if you can use "Harmony" to use your iPod with the Real store. While I may be being over critical of Real's jukebox - I do think that there are other alternatives that are less intrusive and have better feature sets.
All in all I think that either iTunes or WMP is a solid choice and far and away the best media players available. Winamp is a okay too as long as you don't need to rip music or burn it back to a CD - but it is worth the download and install just to listen to Shoutcast stations from time to time. Personally I use WMP at work and iTunes are home, so take that for what it's worth. I think that I like WMP a little better, but not so much that I would take the time to switch my iTunes set up at home.
About the author:
This article was originally posted on Online Music Blog and was written by James Kendall of Copacetix Digital Creation.
Whether you call them media players, jukeboxes, mp3 apps, music managers, or whatever - we all need a proggy to listen to our digital music with, so we decided it was time for the Online Music Blog ( http://www.onlinemusicblog.com ) media player shootout. For the sake of this article I am only going to discuss players you can get for free and I am not going to go into p2p apps.
So with that, lets dive right in. For my money there are are only 3 choices - Winamp, iTunes, or Windows Media Players - but I'll talk a little about RealPlayer 10 as well. All of these applications share baseline features - playing various media files, cataloging digital media, etc. We'll focus on things about them that are different.
Back in the day, we had Winamp, and it was good. Unfortunately the original Nullsoft team has all moved on and instead of the hacker cred that Winamp used to have back when Justin Frankel et all were on the job it is now just another corporate media player with a hazy future.
Winamp lost a lot of momentum that it had when it released a ( very ) bad Winamp3 - but with the release of Winamp5 they seem to be back on track - it is useable, responsive, and has a lot of plugins and skins created for it.
The major problem is that for all of it's features it is not much, if any, better then the two dominant media players that are tied to successful music stores iTunes and WMP. Additionally you have to pay $14.95 to get the pro version that add features that iTunes and WMP include for free. One of the bonuses of using Winamp is the ability to tune into all of the cool shoutcast radio stations.
iTunes is, of course, is the digital jukebox front end for the iPod and the iTunes music store from apple computer. The iTunes music store was the first to get pay for digital music downloads right and it still has the largest legal downloadable catalog on the net giving the iTunes jukebox a hefty advantage.
If you are using a Mac then it is a no brainer - you should be using iTunes as you media player, but even if you are using Windows iTunes provides an attractive alternative. The iTunes store is superior ( imho ) to the Windows Media based stores such as Napster and with the legendary Apple ease of use in full effect iTunes makes a great Windows based Jukebox. Noteworthy is the Apple Lossless codec that allows one to rip CD's to the ACC format that sound as good as the CD itself to our ears. On the negative side, the iTunes jukebox feels heavy on moderately powered PC's compared to Winamp or WMP. It runs a little slower, seems to use more resources, etc.
Last (of yea, except for RealPlayer... ) Windows Media Player 10 is one of Microsoft's best pieces of software and is some much better then the last generation of MS media players. The jukebox itself is stuffed with features such as its ability to monitor changes to your digital media files and update itself, simple sync and burn, ratings, and the auto tag features are all very nice.
One of the changes in V.10 is the ability to rip files if the format and with ( or without ) the DRM of your choice. You also get the ability to listen to Internet radio streams with WMP, and although they tend to be more corporate then the hip shoutcast radio you can still find some good music. WMP also features a lossless ripping of CD's but I was less impressed with the results then I was with Apples Lossless.
And finally there is RealPlayer. The free RealPlayer 10 is better then previous version although that is not saying much imho. It still takes over your file formats by default, tries to force you register, runs in the background (phoning home ?) unless you can find the settings to tell it not to - all of the problems that it has always have. I say stay as far away from Real as possible even if you can use "Harmony" to use your iPod with the Real store. While I may be being over critical of Real's jukebox - I do think that there are other alternatives that are less intrusive and have better feature sets.
All in all I think that either iTunes or WMP is a solid choice and far and away the best media players available. Winamp is a okay too as long as you don't need to rip music or burn it back to a CD - but it is worth the download and install just to listen to Shoutcast stations from time to time. Personally I use WMP at work and iTunes are home, so take that for what it's worth. I think that I like WMP a little better, but not so much that I would take the time to switch my iTunes set up at home.
About the author:
This article was originally posted on Online Music Blog and was written by James Kendall of Copacetix Digital Creation.
MP3 Audio File Format – A new format for storing sounds
by: David Chandler
MP3 is the latest and the most popular audio format that is used
now. This acronym stands for MPEG Layer 3. It is a compressed
audio format with a compression ratio of up to 12: 1. The sound
quality of the audio in this format is very high. A normal audio file,
which is 1200 KB in size, can be stored in just 100 KB if it is using
the MP3 format.
The size of the audio files is very small when
compared to other formats of audio files. This makes it easily
portable.
Where to get MP3 audio files?
MP3 audio files are widely available in CDs now. Almost any album
that is released in the world is also sold in the MP3 audio format.
These albums in the MP3 formats are also available in some
websites that are dedicated for MP3 downloads. You can also
purchase these MP3 CDs at any audio store meant for that
purpose.
MP3 downloads
Free MP3 downloads are also available in some of the websites.
You need to become a member of these sites for a fee to
download unlimited number of songs in the MP3 format. Some of
the sites charge you for each song that is downloaded. Free MP3
downloads for testing the quality of the audio is usually provided
by most of these websites. Websites like www.napster.com allow
free MP3 downloads if you have MP3 players from select
manufacturers. You can download directly to the player by using
the software provided by the website.
How to play a MP3 audio file?
To play a MP3 audio you need separate players whether it is
software or a physical player that can be carried. MP3 software
players are used in your PC to play MP3 audio. Physical players
from many branded manufacturers are available in the market to
play these MP3 audio files.
MP3 Ringtones
With the advent of the mobile phones, it has become a fashion to
make your mobile call you with your favorite songs as Ringtones.
Youngsters particularly teenagers are more interested in using
Ringtones of the songs they like. This has picked up in such a
manner that MP3 Ringtones are now being sold in websites. Many
websites sell Ringtones in the MP3 format. The mobile you are
using should be capable of playing the Ringtones in the MP3 format
to use these MP3 Ringtones. These websites provide you with an
interface to select the model of the mobile phone you have and
then download MP3 Ringtones that suit your mobile phone model.
About the author:
For more information, visit the MP3 Info Center at http://www.mp3infocenter.com
David Chandler
For your FREE Stock Market Trading Mini Course:
"What The Wall Street Hot Shots Won't Tell You!" go to: http://www.stockmarketgenie.com
MP3 is the latest and the most popular audio format that is used
now. This acronym stands for MPEG Layer 3. It is a compressed
audio format with a compression ratio of up to 12: 1. The sound
quality of the audio in this format is very high. A normal audio file,
which is 1200 KB in size, can be stored in just 100 KB if it is using
the MP3 format.
The size of the audio files is very small when
compared to other formats of audio files. This makes it easily
portable.
Where to get MP3 audio files?
MP3 audio files are widely available in CDs now. Almost any album
that is released in the world is also sold in the MP3 audio format.
These albums in the MP3 formats are also available in some
websites that are dedicated for MP3 downloads. You can also
purchase these MP3 CDs at any audio store meant for that
purpose.
MP3 downloads
Free MP3 downloads are also available in some of the websites.
You need to become a member of these sites for a fee to
download unlimited number of songs in the MP3 format. Some of
the sites charge you for each song that is downloaded. Free MP3
downloads for testing the quality of the audio is usually provided
by most of these websites. Websites like www.napster.com allow
free MP3 downloads if you have MP3 players from select
manufacturers. You can download directly to the player by using
the software provided by the website.
How to play a MP3 audio file?
To play a MP3 audio you need separate players whether it is
software or a physical player that can be carried. MP3 software
players are used in your PC to play MP3 audio. Physical players
from many branded manufacturers are available in the market to
play these MP3 audio files.
MP3 Ringtones
With the advent of the mobile phones, it has become a fashion to
make your mobile call you with your favorite songs as Ringtones.
Youngsters particularly teenagers are more interested in using
Ringtones of the songs they like. This has picked up in such a
manner that MP3 Ringtones are now being sold in websites. Many
websites sell Ringtones in the MP3 format. The mobile you are
using should be capable of playing the Ringtones in the MP3 format
to use these MP3 Ringtones. These websites provide you with an
interface to select the model of the mobile phone you have and
then download MP3 Ringtones that suit your mobile phone model.
About the author:
For more information, visit the MP3 Info Center at http://www.mp3infocenter.com
David Chandler
For your FREE Stock Market Trading Mini Course:
"What The Wall Street Hot Shots Won't Tell You!" go to: http://www.stockmarketgenie.com
MP3 Encoding Technology
by: Mansi gupta
The MP3 is a complete godsend for anyone who enjoys and appreciates good music. Not only does it afford users the convenience of purchasing music online and ripping from purchased CDs, it also provides the utmost ease in portability. There are more MP3 players on the market than I can name.
These players allow you to download hundreds and in some cases thousands of MP3’s to take along with you anywhere. I create MP3 CD’s containing up to 120 of my favorite songs for my listening pleasure in my car. But how can so many audio files get stored on my 800MB (Megabyte) CD?
MP3 Encoders and MP3 converters are the software that creates MP3s by using an MP3 compression and decompression algorithm. For example, an average 3 minute WAV file can be as large as 15MB. Using MP3 encoders and MP3 converters, a large WAV file can be cut down to a much smaller and more portable MP3 file of about 3MB.
MP3 stands for MPEG Audio Layer 3. At layer 3, psychoacoustics principles are used to find and remove all unnecessary sound data, leaving behind only the crucial audio data. By unnecessary sound data I mean all of the stuff that we humans don’t hear anyway. Most people can’t hear sounds above 16 kHz so why would you want it hogging your disk or hard drive space? Non-music audio such as speeches, sermons, audio books and comedy albums, can be reduced even less based on this.
Compression occurs after the essential data has been separated from the redundant data. At this stage, the same amount of data can be stored using fewer bits and less space. The bit rate is the ratio of the number of bits transferred between two devices per second. The higher the bit rate, the higher the sound quality. The lower the bit rate ratio, the lower the sound quality. 192 Kb/s is the most popular bit rate used in peer-to-peer networks. For the most part, MP3 converters and encoders today use variable bit rates. This allows for much better quality audio because the bit rate conforms to the dynamics of the audio frames being stored which in turn keeps more of the important music data.
There are dozens of MP3 compressor and encoder software programs available online and at stores. Some of the main encoding engines are: LAME, Blade Enc, Fraunhofer Encoders and Xing. Deciding which MP3 encoding engine technology is right for you depends on your individual needs and preferences. Blaze Media Pro is an excellent option if you're looking for a powerful, yet easy to use, all-in-one multimedia solution.
About the author:
Mansi gupta writes about MP3 encoder. Learn more at http://www.blazemp.com/downloads.html
The MP3 is a complete godsend for anyone who enjoys and appreciates good music. Not only does it afford users the convenience of purchasing music online and ripping from purchased CDs, it also provides the utmost ease in portability. There are more MP3 players on the market than I can name.
These players allow you to download hundreds and in some cases thousands of MP3’s to take along with you anywhere. I create MP3 CD’s containing up to 120 of my favorite songs for my listening pleasure in my car. But how can so many audio files get stored on my 800MB (Megabyte) CD?
MP3 Encoders and MP3 converters are the software that creates MP3s by using an MP3 compression and decompression algorithm. For example, an average 3 minute WAV file can be as large as 15MB. Using MP3 encoders and MP3 converters, a large WAV file can be cut down to a much smaller and more portable MP3 file of about 3MB.
MP3 stands for MPEG Audio Layer 3. At layer 3, psychoacoustics principles are used to find and remove all unnecessary sound data, leaving behind only the crucial audio data. By unnecessary sound data I mean all of the stuff that we humans don’t hear anyway. Most people can’t hear sounds above 16 kHz so why would you want it hogging your disk or hard drive space? Non-music audio such as speeches, sermons, audio books and comedy albums, can be reduced even less based on this.
Compression occurs after the essential data has been separated from the redundant data. At this stage, the same amount of data can be stored using fewer bits and less space. The bit rate is the ratio of the number of bits transferred between two devices per second. The higher the bit rate, the higher the sound quality. The lower the bit rate ratio, the lower the sound quality. 192 Kb/s is the most popular bit rate used in peer-to-peer networks. For the most part, MP3 converters and encoders today use variable bit rates. This allows for much better quality audio because the bit rate conforms to the dynamics of the audio frames being stored which in turn keeps more of the important music data.
There are dozens of MP3 compressor and encoder software programs available online and at stores. Some of the main encoding engines are: LAME, Blade Enc, Fraunhofer Encoders and Xing. Deciding which MP3 encoding engine technology is right for you depends on your individual needs and preferences. Blaze Media Pro is an excellent option if you're looking for a powerful, yet easy to use, all-in-one multimedia solution.
About the author:
Mansi gupta writes about MP3 encoder. Learn more at http://www.blazemp.com/downloads.html
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