June-July
2002 - Volume 1, Issue 4
Music on the Internet
The EthioInternet doesn't boast one of the fastest Internet connections
so I suppose the idea of downloading music from the Internet hasn't
hit home yet. But for Internet users in other parts of the world,
downloading music from the Internet is serious business. It's
so serious that some universities in the United States, such as
San Diego State and the University of Chicago, have banned these
downloads because they are clogging up campus networks.
A new form of
digital music compression called The Moving Pictures Experts Group
Level 3 (MP3) is what has made it all possible. A song stored in
MP3 format takes up a considerably smaller amount of space than
a conventional digital recording and thus can be sent across the
Internet far more quickly. Several recording artists have embraced
this new medium and are selling their music online.
Handy devices
known as MP3 players have also become extremely popular today. These
small devices allow you to store from 30 minutes to several hours
of your selection of crystal clear digital music, which you can
take with you wherever you go. MP3 players have no moving parts
so you don't have to worry about CD tracks skipping, scratches etc.
Some of these devices come integrated with wristwatches, which makes
portability even easier.
Digital music
on the Internet has many advantages of which most are inherent of
the characteristics of the network itself. The speed of the Internet
makes distribution much faster and the cost of putting the music
on a medium such as Compact Disc is eliminated. This is good news
for the customer because the price of music will drastically drop
due to large distribution and lower manufacturing costs on the part
of the recording companies. Furthermore, as consumers, we need only
to purchase the songs we like instead of buying the entire album.
The downside of all this is that piracy takes on a whole new dimension.
It is extremely easy nowadays to send file attachments via e-mail.
As data is being transferred across the network it is impossible
to determine what kind of information that data comprises. Record
companies are going to have to be creative if they want to stay
in the Internet music game and still make a profit at the end of
the day.
If you are a
new artist and require exposure then Internet music is an option
you should look into. Free distribution of your material can help
to increase your popularity and convince recording companies to
sign you up. In fact some new musicians see it as a way to sidestep
the powerful music publishing business and use the Internet to distribute
their songs themselves.
Internet music
seems to have captured the imagination of a wide spectrum of individuals.
As technology improves and it becomes available to more people,
The Internet will become the primary source for acquiring the latest
hits from anywhere in the world. Web sites which you can visit for
more information are: www.cnn.com, www.mp3.com, www.napstar.com
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