Jim Karpen Tips

CNet helps you get started
with digital music

CNet helps you get started with digital music Digital music-like you listen to on your CDs-has been around for a long time. But everything is rapidly changing now in regard to digital formats and the variety of ways that you can access digital music. MP3, Napster, MiniDisc, portable MP3 players, and more give you more of what you want in increasingly convenient formats. The greatest challenge is simply keeping up with all the changes.

This is where CNet's Music Center comes in. It's a wonderful site for beginners who like music and who are eager to plug in to all these new technologies that give them an abundance of their favorite music. It has a great variety of resources-just about everything you need to get started. But even better, it explains everything, even the most basic, such as connecting your computer to your home stereo system. If you're confused about things such as the difference between MP3 and streaming audio, this is the site for you.

The MP3 Launchpad section acknowledges that this whole area is daunting because it encompasses software, hardware, consumer electronics, the Internet, and legal issues. It offers an effective introduction to MP3, streaming audio, MiniDisc players/recorders, and the importance of respecting copyright law. It even has a link to a glossary of terms related to digital audio.

The section reached via the Play Music link helps you get started listening to Internet radio, MP3s, and other digital formats. It gives tips if you're having trouble playing MP3 music and offers direction in regard to finding streaming audio online. Here you'll also find reviews of products such as MP3 player software, portable MP3 players, and speakers. The Find Music section directs you to MP3 search tools, which include not just the Web but also ftp, newsgroups, and the infamous Napster. It also tells you how to find streaming audio.

Once you learn how to download MP3 and listen to it, then you face your next big challenge: organizing your vast library of music. The Organize Music section helps you do just that. It tells you how you can store your music online, how to organize it on your computer, and how to store it on a CD by creating your own MP3 CDs. You can also learn how to create standard CDs and even how to create nice labels for your CD cases. The reviews include information on the ever-cheaper devices that create CDs.

Finally, much that you need to know about creating digital music is available in the Create Music section. It helps you convert, record, and encode your music in the latest digital formats, such as encoding MP3 from CDs and copying CDs.

© 2000 by Jim Karpen, Ph.D.