CLICK & DOUBLE CLICK: INTERNET HUMMING WITH MP3

Music is said to soothe the savage soul, but on the Internet, music is creating a new kind of jungle. At the heart of this great debate is a digital technology called MP3. It allows home computers to compress, store and play near-CD quality music from the Internet.

Many in the record industry consider the technology a beastly threat. If the MP3 audio files are played on the Internet, record executives fear the songs will be pirated to anyone's home computers. Cross your PC with a CD burner and what do you get? Music CDs filled with your favorite songs for a few bucks.

Nevertheless, Internet sites and users have embraced the MP3 technology. Some music artists have even delivered previously unreleased singles to popular Internet sites. Several companies have introduced digital Walkmans that allow listeners to become more mobile.

Before you decide, listen for yourself.

www.mp3.com

This site provides a good introduction to MP3 audio files. The site recommends a PC with at least pentium power or power mac, sound card and speakers and a MP3 player that can be downloaded from the Internet. The site recommends specific players for PC, Mac and Unix platforms with links to the download sites.

MP3.com's play option allows users to hear the song while it's downloading, but the site recommends a speedy Internet connection to do so. You can search by genre, artist or even a Top 40 list.

This site offers 100,000 downloads of free music and audio books, which can be copied into a CD format for personal use -- notice the emphasis on personal. The site is quick to point out that all MP3.com artists have given their permission. For that reason, you won't find a lot of the well-known artists here.

www.changemusic.com

This site has been described as one of the biggest MP3 portals on the Internet.

It is actually a network of Web sites dedicated to the MP3 revolution. It links users to such popular sites as: www.mp3now.com, which is a great resource with both music files and tech advice; MP3 park, a resource site for MP3 players and other software; MP3 Place, which offers discussion forums, technical help, links to MP3 search engines and an archive of music files; and Find Songs, which provides great access to popular MP3 files and lyrics.

There's certainly a lot here -- including a lot of helpful advice for beginners.

www.emusic.com

While many of the titles were unfamiliar to me (sorry, I'm showing my age), the site offers a great chance to experiment with new kinds of music. You can listen to shorter sample tracks, but the entire songs are for sale -- most at 99 cents each.

Another advantage of MP3 is that it compressed large audio clips into relatively small transfer files. With a 56K modem, it typically takes 7 or 8 minutes to download a three-minute song. Double the time for a 28.8 connection.

www.audiohighway.com

This site offers a full range of music and even offers your personalized jukebox for your favorite songs. Under highway hits, you can listen to full songs by more well-known artists in pop, country, jazz and movie soundtracks. For example, you can hear Madonna sing her hit song from the Austin Powers movie.

But this site has much more than music. You can listen to your horoscope, news, audio books and even old-time radio shows. One instant play of an Abbott and Costello radio show ran nearly 30 minutes in length.

mp3.lycos.com

The mega search engine, Lycos, offers a search of MP3 songs on the Internet.

It also offers advice on creating your own MP3 files using software called a ripper and encoder. Both can be downloaded from this site.

The ripper copies tracks from CDs onto the computer hard disk into a wav. file. The encoder compresses it into a MP3 file. Again, the trouble starts if the sound files go beyond personal use.

The debate over MP3 is just heating up. Some record companies have promised digital releases of hits by the holiday season, and more sites are jumping on the MP3 bandwagon. Even Amazon.com offers free digital downloads under its music section from the likes of Sheryl Crow.

The coming months should keep this digital music battle humming along. What's your favorite music site? E-mail me at click@semissourian.com

See you in Cyberspace.

~Joni Adams is managing editor of the Southeast Missourian.