Have your cake and eat it too
Music is prevalent in every culture and it has become a
universal language. It has been described as "nourishment to the
soul," "an extension of spirituality or a celebration of life,"
and as the "purest form of art." It has been compared to that of
the human body as the "beating of the heart, the flow of blood,
the play of muscles, the pulsations of breath" - all part of a
great symphony.
It can make us sing and dance or it can make us despair and cry.
It's for these very reasons why we cherish music. It explains
why music entered our lives and never left. Throughout history
we have created, performed and congregated to hear music. We
long for it. We hunger for it. And from the moment it was made
possible, we have collected music.
>From musical notes to tin foil cylinders to MP3s mankind has
made every attempt in capturing music to be shared with the
masses. It wasn't until the late 1940s when the vinyl record was
invented that the recording industry was able to meet the
demands of music listeners by providing an easy and affordable
way to share music in a timely manner. It was a music revolution.
By the 1950s the demand for music was everywhere. Today, music
is everywhere. It's played in elevators, in stores, on the
phone, in the car, on portable players, and it's on the
Internet. Music comes in many formats but none has taken
Americans by storm as has the MP3.
The MP3 was created in the mid 1990s but was nearly unknown by
all until June of 1999 when a young college student, Shawn
Fanning, released a free service available over the Internet
called Napster. This service created a network of music lovers
that allowed them to share music in the MP3 format, which could
easily be downloaded via a dial-up modem due to its small file
size.
Although later deemed illegal by the lower courts, Napster was
an instant hit and by 2001 it has 26.4 millions users. It
allowed music fans the opportunity to share their digital music
collection with others worldwide and vice versa. Irrelevant to
how one may feel on the subject in regard to the legality of
sharing MP3s online, one cannot deny Napster and the MP3 changed
history in the way we get music, share music and listen to music.
Today we have the option to carry hours upon hours of music on a
portable audio player about the size of a credit card, if not
smaller. In fact, some MP3 or AAC players will allow one to
carry an entire music collection on it, making it a portable
jukebox. Music lovers essentially have become their own walking
deejays and radio stations.
>From downloading MP3s to streaming them on the Internet, MP3s
and other audio formats have made it simpler than ever to
capture the heartbeat of the soul and allow fans to enjoy music
anytime, anywhere. One could now have their cake and eat it too.
Within minutes one can be listening to a favorite song on their
PC or portable audio player after downloading it. One can now
download nearly every song in MP3 format or convert it from a
compact disc.
Another music revolution had taken place. The music recording
industry at first argued against the popularity of the MP3
because of so-called lost revenue but soon embraced it. The
music fans had spoken and it was clear - they wanted fair
pricing for music on compact disc, they wanted the option to buy
singles or entire albums in MP3 format, and they wanted better
music.
The recording industry began listening and deals were made that
led the way to iTunes, Napster 2.0 and the alike. And music fans
responded. In fact, iTunes just recently sold their
one-billionth song. In Australia, three major music stores are
making the transition to sell MP3s and other digital music files
rather than traditional compact discs.
Overall, including the lawsuits and overpriced compact discs,
the change in the music industry has been in favor of the
listeners. Where it goes from here is uncertain but within music
there is one constant - as long as music continues to move us we
will continue to dance.
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For more information on MP3s or other digital music formats,
visit http://www.themp3plug.com