MP3

The advancements in technology haven’t only improved how we work, it has also improved how we play. There is a whole new aspect of entertainment being developed by this technology. Not only are video games reaching new highs, but there are also new types of entertainment emerging.

There are now new ways to listen to music, via MP3s. MP3 is “Shorthand for Moving Picture Experts Group-1, Audio Layer-3”(Isenberg). MP3s are files that are compacted and able to be downloaded. They contain songs that have been recorded from a CD onto a computer. There are several different ways of receiving these files and putting them onto your computer. If you can find an easy way of downloading MP3s it is very possible that you may never want to buy another album again.

MP3 is only one of several types of digital CD quality music that can be saved and also played on your personal computer. I personally like MP3 the best because I find them to sound better. To play these files you need a MP3 player. There are a couple different types of players out on the internet. The most common player for MP3s is a program called Winamp.

Winamp can be found at Winamp.com. I personally like this player because it has a digital equalizer, which gives you more control over the sound of the music. This player reads the songs directly off the hard drive so there is no need for a disk, CD, or tape of any kind. This player also has a feature of a playlist where songs can be added or deleted. Which gives another reason to choose MP3s over albums.

The easy access and the convenience of being able to control the music you listen to has many record companies worried about the future of the their music business. They have started a movement to maintain their security by developing the SDMI or the Secure Digital Music Initiative (Machrone). This “initiative” is the record companies attempt to control the development of MP3s. Several experts say that it is too late “The Geenie has left the bottle and is not coming back.”(Machrone). This may be due to the several different ways to come across MP3s. advocates of direct distribution say the industry fears that if artists can simply send their music directly to the customer, then labels, distribution, and retailers will become obsolete.