Downloading and Playing CD-Quality Music (MP3 Files)

Although most audio and video you can get online is pretty small and scratchy, one file format online supplies top-quality sound: MP3. MP3 files, which have the filename extension .MP3, are downloadable files containing CD-quality music or other high-quality audio.

Getting MP3 Files

Downloading MP3 files is like downloading any other type of file; you typically click a link in a Web page and then wait for the file to download to your computer. After the file is on your computer, you can play it anytime , even offline. A typical MP3 file containing one pop song is between 3MB and 4MB; over a 56K connection, it typically takes no more than about 15 minutes to get the file.

Of course, the trick with MP3 files isn't downloading them ”it's finding the exact song you want to hear from among the thousands available online. To help with that, there are MP3 search pages, which you use just like regular search pages, but which are specifically designed to find MP3 files online when you supply all or part of the song's title or the artist's name . Check out music.lycos.com (see Figure 11.9). Using the Search box at the top of the page, you can search for MP3s by clicking the MP3 radio button.

Figure 11.9. There are MP3 search engines that help you find exactly the song you want to hear.

There are lots of sites with MP3 files and players, but a good place to start with MP3 is (you guessed it) www.mp3.com.

Playing MP3 Files

If you use Windows and have a recent version of Windows Media Player, you'll find that it plays MP3 files you've downloaded from the Web. Otherwise, you'll need to pick up an MP3 player to hear MP3 files. Good shareware and freeware players are available all over the Web; the following are a few sites to check out for good players:

• Sonique (see Figure 11.10) at sonique.lycos.com

  Figure 11.10. Sonique is one of many great freeware and shareware MP3 players available online.

  

• Winamp at www. winamp .com

• Macamp (for Macintosh) at www.macamp.net

Most MP3 players not only play MP3 files, but also serve as all-purpose sound players playing other sound file formats (such as .WMA) and also audio CDs in your CD-ROM drive.