Laser Disc Music - We predicted it! Apple will be hosting an event surrounding its popular music player, iPod and the popular music download service, iTunes. The event will take place on September 1st at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco at 10am PDT. It is a tradition for Apple to release a new iPod is September, but the next generation of iPods are expected to get Apple’s juicy retina display and front facing camera, of course along with Apple’s IOS4. There has also be speculation of Apple making changes to the Apple TV, including a scaled down device with the price tag of just $99 and access to the App Store. Get ready ladies and gentlemen, Jobs and his crew are ready to change the game once again… Are you ready!?

Also this month Kazaa popular for its download music service have released a player so you can stream all the latest tracks from Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and co. live into your homes.

Laser Disc Music - If music downloads are your thing then you have most likely used iTunes before. Apple has announced today that the popular download service’s iTunes U has surpassed 300 million downloads and counting. iTunes U is Apple’s digital education catalog service. The feat took a little over three years to accomplish. Currently the catalog now includes more than 800 universities as it’s partners and about half of those participants make their content available to the public through Apple’s iTunes Store.

Some of the most elite universities make sure of the iTunes distribution; Harvard, MIT, Cambridge, Oxford and the University of Melbourne.  Apple has also made it a point to not limit the catalog to just the English speaking demographic. Institutions in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico and Singapore were all recently added. In total, the catalog now holds more than 350,000 free audio and video files which can be played on a computer, iPhone, iPod or iPad.

Laser Disc Music - Apple is currently holding down the top spot as far as mobile gaming is concerned, one would wonder what Microsoft is going to do to one up the competition. Well, why not put one of the most popular console gaming services onto a mobile device? Now you can take your Slash moves onto the street, which might get dangerous in the wrong part of town.That is just what Microsoft plans to do with their new Windows Phone 7 series platform.  XBOX Live gaming is the largest appeal to those who are in the market for the new Windows Phone 7 and what better way to overcome the insurmountable competition than a build on of what is already a hands down successful product?!

Microsoft has announced 63 games that will be available at launch of the new Window Phone 7 and lovers of music related video games will be pleased to know that Guitar Hero will be ready to rock at launch. Microsoft admits that many of the titles will be a watered down versions of their console counterparts, they do promise that the premise is just the same.

Now you can download music, play a game, hold a meeting among thousands of other tasks while in the subway, street or car.

Laser Disc Music - In a turn of disappointing news, the chart topping UK acts, Pink Floyd has been removed from the  music download service iTunes library. Albums like Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall and Wish You Were Here have all been removed from the music download service as the group’s contract with EMI had come to an end.

Pink Floyd did make attempts to try and secure a fresh contract earlier this year but as of right now there is no contract set in place, which means their music cannot legally be sold online. This is a major upset in their business plan as since 1991 they have sold more than 36 million records in the United States alone. Recently, digital downloads have amounted to about 40 percent of the bands total records sales. Earlier work by the band can still be sold and found online.

Laser Disc Music - Ahhh giving away free music, such a novel idea. Independent music title, The Fader used a similar promotion four years ago and channeled magazine giveaways on iTunes as a new way to reach music fans in the social space. Four years later The Fader is ending it’s giveaway in light of wanting to live the American dream and yes, make real money. The Fader seeks to make money in an uncertain ad driven market.

The 95,000 circ. magazine will begin doing this in the fall and will switch its digital distribution to Zinio.  Zinio creates editions for popular brands such as Cosmo and Men’s Health for consumption on the iPad, mobile phones and PCs.

The Fader, Zinio edition, will cost consumers $4.99 per single issue and $16.99 for a yearly subscription. That breaks down to a 15% savings over the print version, which should help to increase readership amongst consumers. The Fader is making other digital distribution plays revolving around it’s print magazines, which they publish six times a year. They also just launched a free mobile application for the iPhone and Android handsets to let users customize their experience. They also will have an application ready for the iPad in about three months.

Laser Disc Music - The ability to tag songs and send them for download within iTunes was something that never really caught on like everyone anticipated. Some say that it was a lack of marketing, which is hard to believe for an Apple product, or simply a lack of available devices that supported the ability. Regardless users have other ways to go about finding the music they know and love instead of just by radio, tag’ em and download’ em later. Overseas in the UK a company called Pure has stepped up to the plate with a competitor called FlowSongs.

The technology offers select Pure Digital radios to connect with the 7Digital network in order to mark songs, purchase them for around $1.00 each and then stream them via the users Lounge account to as many Pure compatible radios as your little heart desires. The songs that are found via DAB, FM or internet stations can be tagged and all of your music downloads are 100% DRM free. It gets even better! A large amount of the music will be encoded to 320kbps! through you will have to put up with a tiny $4.00 yearly charge in order to pay for the Shazam end of the service. All this music-loving goodness is set to go live on Monday. Hooray for the internet!

Laser Disc Music - Along with the long list of Apple rumors that surround us 365 days a year, this one is most likely 100% accurate, which is great news for all who love to download music. A report from a Brazilian news site, MacMagazine, claims that Apple’s yearly iPod refresh is just over a week away, it also ustates that their source comes from deep within the walls of Apple’s headquarters and that the next generation of iPods should drop between August 14th and 16th.

Given Apple’s past history of announcing new iPods, this August date is a bit out of the ordinary as Apple likes to announce the iPod refresh in September. Rumored details regarding the specs of the next generation iPod Touch have been all over the map. The latest reports peg the iPod Touch sporting a gyroscope, Retina display and both front and rear facing 5 mega-pixel camera. Also, and most notably, the next generation iPod Touch will feature Apple’s FaceTime.

Further rumors extend to the other mp3 players. The iPod Shuffle is expected to receive a touchscreen display and the  iPod Nano is also expected to get a refresh as well. Sources also claim that there is a 7-inch iPad in the works for a late 2010 release. Expect the next Apple event to revolve around it’s mp3 bread winner and expect a shared iOS with multitasking to come to the iPad later this year.

Laser Disc Music - Top iPhone, iPod and iPad application maker, Thuat Nguyen, has been banned from the Apple App Store. Thuat has reached the top 42 of the top 50 sales slots in the Book category of the App Store through a said series of “fraudulent purchase patterns.” The application maker has also managed to have gotten all of his applications removed from the App Store for violating the developer Program License Agreement.

Apple warns users of the popular music and video players to contact their financial institution and inquire about canceling their credit cards that they’ve used on iTunes. Apple goes on to instruct users to issue a charge-back for any unauthorized charges. The app developer is estimated to have gotten into around 400 iTunes accounts. Apple states that their credit card information is not held on the servers that were hacked, but as a precaution they recommend to do the aforementioned steps.  Other media outlets also recommend that iTunes users change their iTunes account password immediately. For further information on how to change your password for optimal security visit http://www.apple.com/support/itunes.

Laser Disc Music - What’s in a name? Well a lot apparently. The Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem, also known as the DECE, has finally chosen to move forward with a brand name and a beta program for its cloud-based “digital locker” system. The name that they have chosen? UltraViolet and the beta testing begins fall of this year. Don’t expect the specs or licensing to be ready anytime soon as those are expected to be announced at the end of this year.

DECE made it’s first public debut this year and the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) but has been under development since 2008. During it’s presentation at CES, DECE announced that their technology will set a standard for video encryption and allow users to take their content from one device to the next without jeopardizing Digital Rights Managment (DRM). In essence, the technology allows users to take their content with them on numerous devices while authenticating with a cloud-based “Digital Rights Locker” when the user wants to use their content on a new device. This obviously is a step forward in DRM technology as it would free the user from being locked into using a single device or particular piece of hardware, all the while allowing content providers a degree of control over the way the content is consumed.

The companies the DECE encompasses include some big names; Warner Bros., NBC Universal, Sony, Fox, Microsoft, Intel, Cisco, Netflix, Adobe and DivX to name a few. Namely absent from the pack are Apple and Disney. While Disney is working on their own version of authentication formatting called KeyChest, Apple is off in the distance and wants nothing to do with the group or the DRM movement.  The DECE crew is approximately 60 companies strong and growing. With all of these big players involved one could hope that they are all working toward an easy-to-use system that people will actually want to use. This should be interesting though with the most widely used MP3 player’s father, Apple, keeping it’s distance, UltraViolet may have a hard time becoming the “Universal DRM.” What does this mean for the music download industry and it’s user? We soon shall see.

Laser Disc Music - One of the hottest car manufacturers, BMW,  has just teamed up with the leading MP3 player manufacturer in the world, Apple, to create a seamless user experience between their respective products. German  automobile company, BMW, has announced the support for the iPod out feature in Apple’s iOS4. This features allows every Apple device running iOS4 to output the MP3 player’s interface right onto the external navigation screen in the BMW. A list of devices that are compatible with the update include the iPhone 3G, 3GS, the iPhone 4 and the third generation of iPod touches as well. What’s great about this feature is that the interface utilizes BMW’s iDrive control with Apple’s cover flow graphics and displays it on the car’s navigation screen.

The advantages of a system like this are obvious. The system is safer to use, legal and allows browsing through your iPhone’s music downloads without taking your hands off the steering wheel. It also charges your iPhone/iPod while in use. This is not the first time that Apple and BMW have partnered on a project. Back in 2004, the two companies released the first iPod automobile interface which allowed drivers to control their iPods from their steering wheel. I have this MP3 player interface on my car and it is an absolute dream to use! Today, you will find similar iPod integration available in the cars of manufacturers like VW, Renault, Honda, Audi, Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo and Nissan.

Below is video on the upcoming product:

Laser Disc Music - According to various news sources, Apple is getting ready to release their latest touch-tastic 4th generation MP3 player in September. Rumors are circulating around the addition of iPod Touch models sporting integrated microphones and HD cameras. With these additions, expect the new MP3 player from Apple to come equipped with enhanced voice command features, much like the iPhone. The best part is that the iPod will now feature 720p playback goodness! Take that Zune! The specs for the upcoming music player’s camera hit the 5 megapixel mark, with these Tyranno-Pods sporting a built in flash, YouTube uploading, accelerometer and gyroscope.

With a five megapixel camera, the new iPod Touch will be able to shoot HD video, just like the new iPhone. Reports on the quality of HD video quality of the iPhone are outstanding and rated as some of the best quality available on any handset available today. The iPod Touch is expected to get the same high resolution screen as the new iPhone, enabling high quality video playback. The new iPhone being four times the resolution of the old iPhone display, is presumably significantly more expensive to manufacture. Why would Apple include it in the iPod touch? Well, for one thing, the high resolution display significantly expands Apple’s market for HD video as well as music downloads.

These next generation iPods may come with Apple’s FaceTime which would imply that the iPod Touch will come with a front-facing camera and iOS4. If these rumors turn out to be true, which is a bit hopeful, then this music player will come equipped with many of the desirable features supported by the iPhone 4.

The best and most exciting part of the new iPod Touch update is the rumored inclusion of Apple’s super-fast A4 chipset being used in the 4th Touch. I can’t wait to try shooting videos on my iPod touch in yummy 720p HD goodness! Maybe I”ll make a music video on my iPod! Spike Lee better watch out!

Laser Disc Music - Media Player Classic is the ideal replacement for Windows Media Player with more practical functionality, such as the ability to go forward and backward of one single frame, it is possible to change faster speed of reproduction with Ctrl + up, you can view RealMedia and Quicktime movies and security concerns of previous versions are now fixed while library updates are also among many of the great features in this package.

This light and compact media player for Microsoft Windows leaves a low memory footprint and if the correct codecs are added you will have an optimal freeware player at your fingertips. If you like retro style the cool interface kicks it old school and is very user friendly and jargon free.

Media Player Classic 6.4.9.1 is an essential program if you watch video or listen to audio on a applicable device. Now when you download free music and movies you don’t have to hassle with software malfunctions or complications afterwards.

Laser Disc Music - WMA is Microsoft’s own format for storing digital music (music downloads) WMA stands for Windows Media Audio.

WMA is the default format used by Windows Media Player. For example when you rip a CD with Windows Media Player, it will store your music as WMA files.

WMA files are often used by online music stores, because they can also be protected from being used on another computer. (This is called digital rights management, DRM for short.)

Microsoft created the WMA format after MP3 was already in widespread use. (See our article What is MP3?)

Why did Microsoft create their own format when MP3 was already established?

1. MP3 can’t be protected from copying. Microsoft wanted to provide a music format that could be sold on the Internet without risk of copying.
2. Microsoft needed a format to compete with Apple. The iPod & iStore was taking off, and Apple has their own copy-protected format.
3. Microsoft wanted their own music format for portable music players, with an intent to dominate the technology for digital music.

Music can be encoded at different quality levels with both WMA & MP3. The quality is most often specified as a bitrate. WMA sounds better than MP3 for music encoded at very low bitrates (e.g. 64kbps). The difference between the two formats is marginal, if any, for higher bitrates.

At the time WMA was created, dialup connections were common and hard disc sizes were far smaller, so sounding good at low bitrates was a big advantage for WMA. Now that broadband is common, and standard hard discs will hold 10,000 albums, and music is typically encoded at much higher bitrates (256kbps is becoming common), WMA’s low-bitrate advantage over MP3 is irrelevant for most people.

I went to a presentation from Microsoft once, where they explained how WMA was going to take over the world. A lot of us believed them. But it didn’t happen.

1. Most people who buy music online have an iPod & iTunes and use the iStore – no WMA here.
2. Portable music players almost never bother to put on their packaging anymore that they support WMA. There’s no major consumer demand for it.
3. Online music stores are increasingly offering unprotected MP3s for purchase.

WMA’s not quite a dead format, because there are still online music stores using it, and it’s also the default formatting for ripping CDs in Windows Media Player, but you could say it’s marginalized.

Should you keep you music in WMA? See our article Should I Use WMA?.

Laser Disc Music - I’d avoid WMA and use MP3 where possible. Anything will play MP3. All hardware music players support MP3. All software music players will play MP3. At the higher bitrates common today (192kbps or 256kbps), MP3 and WMA’s audio performance is comparable.

iTunes can convert your free music downloads that are WMAs to MP3 or MP4 on import.

You can also configure Windows Media Player to import (rip) your CDs as MP3, rather than WMA.

How to Make an MP3

Laser Disc Music - The most common way to make MP3 music files (most common format of music downloads) is to use your computer to convert a CD into a set of MP3 files. This process is called ripping.

It’s most common and convenient to use your computer’s built-in media player software (Windows Media Player on Windows or iTunes on Mac) to do the ripping. Hardcore audiophiles and techies sometimes use dedicated CD ripping software, such as the free software Exact Audio Copy. Built-in media players will tend to store music in their own preferred format – WMA for Windows Media Player and AAC for iTunes. To rip to MP3 instead, you need to change your CD import settings.

To import CDs as MP3 in iTunes:

1. Select the iTunes menu > Preferences…
2. Click the General tab.
3. Click the Import Settings… button.
4. In the Import Using: dropdown, choose MP3 Encoder.
5. Click OK to close the Import Settings… window.
6. Click OK to close the Preferences window.

When taking music and putting it in MP3 format – a process called encoding – you can choose how much to compress the music. Most people are happy with the sound quality with medium compression – encoding rates of 128 or 160 kbps. Those with sensitive ears and good equipment prefer lower compression – encoding rates of 256 or even 320 kbps (the maximum). These encoding rates use more storage (hard disk or flash memory) to store your music.

Laser Disc Music - This is the first post to the site and for good reason – MP3 is the Godzilla of music download formats.

When you store music on your computer, the music can be stored in a variety of formats. You might have heard of other formats like WAV, AIFF or FLAC. There are probably at least 100 different file formats for music.

History of MP3

MP3 is short for MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3. The MP in MPEG actually stands for motion picture. That’s right! MP3 was actually originally intended as audio format for the sound accompanying videos.

Before formats like  MP3 appeared, storing music took massive amounts of disk space – about 650 MB per album. MP3 enabled music to be compressed down to one tenth of the size. This made it affordable and practical to store music on a computer.

MP3 was the format the enabled the digital music explosion that started around 1998. A free music player called Winamp enabled people to play MP3 music files on their computer. MP3 music players like the Rio started to become available. And some music sites enabled free music – by supporting sharing these MP3 music files.

Practicalities of MP3

With the MP3 format, it’s typical to have one file per song. The MP3 can contain tags (ID3 tags), which allow the song name, album, artist and track number to be stored inside the MP3. A music player, such as an iPod, can display the name of a song while it plays. Even track artwork (e.g. the album cover) can now be stored in MP3s.

The great thing about having your music in MP3 is every hardware and software music player can play your music. MP3 gives you the maximum flexibility.

Okay now you know what MP3 is; here how you can make an MP3 for free.