|
CD Rewriter
Is a device found within a personal computer. To begin with they
were only found in a desktop computer, due to the size of the device.
Eventually the technology advanced enough for them to be fitted
within a laptop. A CD rewriter revolutionized the music industry,
they enabled people to burn mp3 files onto a blank CD. While many
mp3 files are downloaded legally, many are not. The music industry
has often bemoaned the ease of which users can burn pirated music
onto a CD.
CD Burners
A CD Burner is a software application. They work in tandem with
a CD Rewriter. CD Burners are numerous and many are now free for
download and use. Some professional burners cost in the region of
thirty pounds, such as 'Nero'. To begin with a CD Burner could only
'burn' an mp3 file to make an audio CD. However, they can now burn
video onto blank DVD's. Another option is to burn plain data files
and program files onto a CD. A typical blank CD can store in the
region of seventy five minutes of music, or seven hundred and fifty
mega bytes of data.
Decoders
A decoder is a software program which can convert files into different
formats. Of course not all files can be converted into another format
and still remain readable. But some file formats contains similar
data. Two such file formats are WAV and MP3. Both are audio formats
that can be decoded and compressed into each other. MP3 has the
advantage of being compressed smaller, so that more files can be
stored onto devices such as an iPod. But for many CD players, they
cannot read MP3 files, so the MP3 file needs to be converted into
a WAV file so it can be read.
FTP Music Downloads
FTP stands for "File Transfer Protocol". The majority
of download sites on the web, such as mp3.com etc, will use FTP
behind the scenes for transferring files from their server to a
personal computer of a user. At the beginning of the mp3 download
craze, there were only a few major download portals. Such as http://www.mp3board.com.
As the age of digital downloads advanced and expanded, the amount
of sites offering the services expanded beyond all imagination.
Sites such as mtv.com and yahao.music.com soon took a major share
of web site downloading.
Music Search Engines
One of the primary ways to find a music download service is through
a search engine (Google, Lycos).
All you need to do is visit the search engine, enter a query such
as 'music download' and you'll be provided with a large selection
of services. One thing to be careful of, is certifying whether the
site you use is legal or not. While some users may not be perturbed
by downloading pirated content, some other users may not wish to
take the risk. The major music industry bodies employ companies
to track ip addresses which download pirated copyright content.
In the US, this has led to some people being fined a large sum of
money. However, many sites now offer free legal downsides, such
as (mp3.com offers this feature).
There are also filesharing
search engines which locate torrents etc. Again, whether these torrents
violate copyright laws is up to debate.
Playlisters
To begin with a playlister was a program which was stand alone.
It did as it said, it would create a list of mp3/audio files which
could be played by media players. Nowadays a playlister is part
and parcel of a larger software application. The best two examples
are Winamp and Windows Media Player. The playlisters employed by
these programs are much more advanced than in previous times. They
are capable of indexing songs by artist, album, genre, year, rating,
recently added etc. A playlister is sometimes referred to as a 'library'.
Plugins
Plugins are big business. Many third party developers have created
plugins which can be installed into major media players such as
Winamp. Plugins can be purely cosmetic such as skins, which alter
the graphics and buttons etc of the programs and install animation's.
Other plugins can do much more, such as expanding the spectrum of
the equalizers the program can run. A DVD decoder is another useful
plugin, most media players can not play DVDs, and need a decoder
plugin to do so.
Rippers
A ripper is another program which can be either a standalone program
or installed into a larger media program. The job of the ripper
is to transfer files from a CD to the hard drive or storage media
of a computer. A ripper can also convert CD files into other formats,
such as mp3. The ripper which comes free with the Windows Media
Player, takes in the region of three minutes to transfer a music
album from a CD to the computer's hard disk. Of course, the speed
increases as the speed of the CD/DVD reader increases. A ripper
gives a selection of bit rates. The bit rate dictates the quality
of the audio file. A higher bit rate means a larger file to store.
The bit rate is calculated in Kbps, 128 is a low bit rate and 320
is high.
Skins
A skin is a plugin for a media player. This means that players
such as Winamp can be customised to your preference. Many music
stars, such as Madonna, provide free skins for download at their
official websites. The amount of skins available is countless to
be honest. Any genre, product, or music star you can think of. Skins
are usually only designed for use on one media player. Therefore
a skin designed for winamp will probably not be able to be used
on Sonique.
Streaming
Streaming is an alternative option for websites and online services
to provide access to files. Streaming means that a file can be played
by a media player, but cannot be downloaded. This means that the
provider of the service can keep control of the distribution of
the file. Streaming can also be quicker and use less bandwidth than
with a download service. Streaming usually equals lower quality.
Youtube is a prime example of a streaming service, where you can
play a file but not download it. However, the quality of the file
is hedged.
|
