By Ben Adams
By Ben Adams
Here's some useful information about mp3s.
Mp3 stands for mpeg layer 3. An mp3 file is a compressed audio file. Most mp3s are songs taken from CDs, compressed into mp3 format, and stored onto a computer. An mp3 file takes up much less space than a file in wav format: One minute of audio in mp3 format takes up about 1 megabyte, whereas one minute of audio in wav format takes up about 10 megabytes. Thus, your typical four-minute mp3 takes up about four megabytes, vs. 40 megabytes in wav format. Yet mp3 and wav files sound exactly the same when played on a computer, or from a burned CD.
Because they are so easy to make, find, store, and play, mp3s have become immensely popular among PC and Internet users everywhere. In the past two years, the popularity of mp3 has exploded and people everywhere (especially on college campuses) have built vast customized collections of songs that they can access at any time. (I have over 1400 mp3s, and I know people with over 2000 mp3s). The music industry does not like mp3s (which will be discussed later) because they eliminate the need for the consumer to go out and buy CDs. Many mp3 fans still purchase CDs to support their favorite artists, but many others would rather just find individual songs, and even whole albums, for free. The advent of CD-rewritable technology has enabled users to make their own customized CDs: All you have to do is buy a CD-RW drive for about $150-200 and buy the blank CDs, which are usually about $2 apiece and hold 74 minutes of music. It virtually pays for itself, because you no longer have to go out and buy each CD for $12-15 apiece. It is easy to see how members of the music industry are concerned with the effect of mp3s on their profits.
To make your own mp3s, all you need is a CD, a CD or DVD drive, and a CD- or wav-to-mp3 program. The most popular program is AudioCatalyst, which is fast and easy to use. Below is a screenshot of its interface:
A trial version of AudioCatalyst is available at its website; you must purchase the first version (unless you are able to pirate it, which is pretty common).
There are many mp3 player programs out there, but by far the most common is Winamp. It's free to download from their web site, and most people have it. It has many convenient features, including plugins, thousands of skins, an equalizer, a playlist editor, and an mp3-to-wav converter. Below is a screenshot of the default winamp without a skin, and next to it is one with a skin.
Most people with fast connections nowadays are using Napster to find mp3s. It is a file sharing program that has become the subject of controversy over the past few months because of its widespread popularity (see Legal Issues below). It is also a free download, and it is by far the easiest way to find virtually any song you want. When you search for a song, it displays results, in order of lowest ping (which is equivalent to fastest download time). Below is a screenshot of it:
How can I Back Up my Mp3 Collection?
Before CD-RW became widely available, if your hard drive crashed, you lost all of your mp3s. But now that burners and blank CDs are relatively cheap and easy to use, they are great for storing your mp3s on CDs. Each CD holds about 170 average-length mp3 files. If your hard drive fails, or if you have to reformat it, you can simply drag and drop the files from the CDs back onto the hard drive to restore your mp3 collection.
What are the Legal Issues about Mp3s?
Because mp3s are so easy to create, distribute and find, many legal issues arise. The issue of copyright infringement is one of the main issues. Also, the music industry, namely artists, producers, and distributors, are concerned about the impact mp3s have on record sales. Several lawsuits have resulted: the most recent was filed by the awesome band Metallica, suing five national universities for allowing students to use Napster. The universities will likely ban the use of Napster, because it cultivates the distribution of illegally copied material, and it is also a bandwidth hog. So far, Virginia Tech has not addressed the issue, despite the fact that many of its students are using Napster. However, Napster itself does not distribute or possess the mp3s; it merely allows users to trade them. Napster has claimed it is not responsible for what material is traded by its users.
The topic of mp3s has become a very prevalent issue within both the music industry and the high-tech industry within the past year or so, and I predict it will continue to be a hot topic for quite a while. And until I am physically unable to do so, I myself will continue to find mp3s and make CDs out of them, because, hey, it's free. I love technology. :)
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