Listening to the Music

Unless you have been living in Outer Mongolia for the past decade, you know that it is possible to download songs and music over the Internet in the form of MP3 files. And you also know that downloading music this way is very controversial because most people download MP3s from Web sites without paying for them. Some believe that downloading music without paying is theft; others think that downloading music on the Internet is no more illegal than trading homemade cassette tapes with friends. MP3 files, CD burners, and MP3 players (portable computer devices that play MP3 files) have changed the way that people listen to music and the way that music is distributed. As much as the music industry would like to turn back the clock to the days when music was distributed on CDs, it now appears that the MP3 file is here to stay. On the idea that you may as well join them if you can’t beat them, music companies have begun licensing their music to online music stores. From these stores, you can legally download music over the Internet. This short article explains where these stores are and how you can obtain music from them. It also looks into the controversy surrounding software that permits you to download music for free.

Why Not Get Music for Free?

Back in the 1990s, a free computer program called Napster made it possible to download MP3 files without paying anything. Napster soon became wildly popular with music fans. The program became the most downloaded software in the history of the Internet. Fearing for its profits, the music industry filed lawsuit after lawsuit against Napster and finally succeeded in shutting down the company. But new software programs Kazaa, Morpheus, Gnutella, and Grokster, among others soon appeared to take the place of Napster. These second-generation software programs for downloading MP3 files operate on the peer-to-peer file-sharing model. When you log onto the service, the software takes down your computer’s IP address and compiles a list of the audio files on your computer (an IP address is a number that identifies each sender and receiver on the Internet).

The software then passes your IP address and song list to other computers that are logged on, and these computers also pass along your IP address and list. In this way, your IP address and song list are soon broadcast to literally millions of computers. When you search for an audio file to download, you search IP addresses and song lists that have been passed to your computer. When you give the command to download a file from a list, the software targets the IP address of someone else’s computer, locates the audio file on that computer, and downloads the file. If the same file is found on several computers, you download it from several computers at once, which cuts down on the time it takes to download the file. Meanwhile, others download audio files from your computer. The matter of whether peer-to-peer file-sharing programs are legal is still being argued. Some courts have ruled that the makers of the software are not in violation of the copyright laws because they merely help people share files; they don’t distribute the files themselves. The violators, some courts have ruled, are the ones who keep copyrighted material on their computers and give it to others without the people who hold the copyrights being compensated. In 2003, Sony and EMI sued several dozen subscribers to Kazaa on the grounds that they were sharing copyrighted material. The lawsuits sought damages ranging from $100,000 to $150,000 per song! If you acquire audio files from a program like Kazaa, you run the risk of being sued, although many people are willing to take this risk. At any given time, some three million people are logged onto Kazaa. Your chances of being sued are small. You do, however, take certain risks and expose your computer to certain problems when you run peer-to-peer file-sharing software:  

-  Your computer’s IP address is broadcast to millions of people. Sophisticated computer hackers can get into your system if they know your computer’s IP address. They can download sensitive material such as credit card numbers.  

-  Ever wonder why these programs are free? They’re free because, when you install them on your computer, you also install spyware and adware. Spyware is software that tracks where you surf on the Internet and gives the information to advertisers so they can send you ads tailored to your interests. Adware is software that makes pop-up advertisements appear on-screen when you browse the Internet. In effect, you pollute your computer when you install these programs. Kazaa is notorious in this regard. It makes your computer run slower.

 -  The quality of the audio files you download runs from very bad to very good, and you never know how bad or good a file is until you download and play it. Some audio files are incomplete. Others are not what they claim to be. Some are inferior recordings. Finally, there is the ethical problem of downloading copyrighted material that you would normally have to pay for. Many people make a living by earning income or collecting royalties from the sale of music and video that is now being copied freely over the Internet. These people deserve your respect and consideration.

Touring Online Music Stores

The cost of downloading an audio file from an online music store ranges from 79 to 99 cents. This isn’t much more than the cost of playing a song on a jukebox. The different stores have different policies as to how many computers you can keep songs on and how many times you can burn a song onto a CD. At the Web sites, you can listen to 30-second song clips before you decide whether to buy a song. Some Web sites charge a $20 to $30 per month subscription fee. WMA stands for Windows Media Audio. WMA files can be played on the Windows Media Player. AAC stands for Advanced Audio Coding. AAC files are meant to be played on Apple computers. Good luck finding your favorite song.