Software Encoders (Free Versus Pay)

For those who are just starting out in streaming audio, it's not necessary to spend money on an MP3 encoder. Freeware and shareware MP3 on-demand file encoders and live streaming tools are available from a wide variety of sources (see the Appendix, "Tools and Resources"). Far more on-demand tools than live streaming tools exist. At some point, however, your streaming audio idea might become part of a business. If you reach that point, consider purchasing a more flexible and robust software or hardware encoding tool.

In this chapter, you'll author on-demand MP3 files using Audiograbber (Windows) and iTunes (Macintosh). You'll use Winamp (Windows) to author live MP3 streams. A generally used Macintosh-based MP3 live stream encoding software tool has yet to be released (at the time of this writing).

Other MP3 software encoders are listed in the Appendix.