MUSIC

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With so many file sharing networks offering free music, why would anyone want to pay money to download the same music from a fee-based service? The biggest problem with free file sharing networks is that you can’t always download a given file when you want it, and the audio quality of any music file on a file sharing network may be questionable.

To address these problems, along with the legal issues surrounding file sharing, many companies have started their own fee-based file sharing businesses where you can download music legally. While these legal music file sharing services guarantee the audio quality of their files, their selections of files may be limited, since they need to secure permission from every record company whose music they carry. Also, they often use proprietary file formats that restrict copying and playing.

For example, Musicmatch (http://www.musicmatch.com), MusicNow (http://www.musicnow.com), BuyMusic (http://www.buymusic.com), Streamwaves (http://www.streamwaves.com), Napster (http://www.napster.com), and even Wal-Mart (http://www.walmart.com) distribute music files in the WMA (Windows Media Audio) format, which uses Microsoft’s Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology to prevent people from copying the WMA file. Unfortunately, not every portable music player can play WMA files, nor can all non-Windows computers.

Anyone downloading music files from RealRhapsody (http://www.real.com) or iTunes (http://www.apple.com/itunes) will find a different file format called AAC (Advanced Audio Coding), which also restricts copying and poses compatibility problems for many portable music players. Naturally, Apple’s own portable music player, the iPod, can play both MP3 and AAC files but not WMA files, although it can convert WMA files into AAC files so you can play them on your iPod.

To find music stored in the MP3 file format, visit eMusic (http://www.emusic.com) or MP3.com (http://www.mp3.com), where you can download legal music files and even submit your own music so others can hear what you may have created. For a glimpse of the possible future of downloadable music, visit CokeMusic (http://www.cokemusic.com), a site that offers MP3 music files to promote the brand name of Coca-Cola, as shown in Figure 16-1. To test the feasibility of offering a full online music service, Coca-Cola has even opened a site exclusively for British customers called MyCokeMusic (http://www.mycokemusic.com), where they can download songs for 99p (approximately $1.72 USD).

Figure 16-1: In the future, legal music downloading services may be funded by promoting another product.

With Napster originally run by Roxio (publisher of CD burning software), iTunes by Apple (which sells iPod portable music players), and MyCokeMusic by Coca-Cola, the downloadable music business may soon become nothing more than an advertising vehicle to promote something other than the actual music.

Note

Note Before you join any music sharing service, such as iTunes or Napster, make sure you can play the files that they offer for downloading on your particular computer or portable music player.

Legal music file sharing services may be inexpensive, but they may never become dominant until they can match the selection and convenience of the free (but illegal) file sharing services.

Note

Note Be careful when signing up with a seemingly legitimate music file sharing network. Many deceptive “legal” file sharing services simply trick users into purchasing software that turns out to be nothing more than a client program like Kazaa or LimeWire, which you could have downloaded for free anyway. Purchasing such a free client program still leaves you open to recording industry lawsuits, along with the insult of losing your money to a con artist.

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