Sound #25: Am I a music pirate?

I used Windows Media Player to rip songs from a disc and burn it to a blank disc. The procedure was very easy. Fourdogmom told me about Roxio, so I ripped and burned another disc to try out that site. It was also very easy to perform. I did not notice much difference in the procedures, except that Roxio has the capability to make a jewel case cover.

I still use CDs. It is more practical for me to use the CD player in my car and at my desk at work.

Sharing music is not a new concept, remember when you bought a 45 or an album and your friend bought a different one and you "shared". When cassettes became popular, you recorded music from your record collection onto cassettes or you recorded directly from your favorite radio station versus buying the cassette. The Internet is just that "friend" who has all of the latest hits that you "borrow" music from. But, musicians are caught in the middle with piracy of their music. Allowing free sharing creates a larger fan base, but they are losing the revenue that would be made from the sale of the music. What is more important to the musician, popularity or money? I understand that having both would be the ultimate solution, but in this time of technology, the musicians may have to make a choice.

Sound #24: The sound of music!

These are words that you probably never expected a mother to say:

THANK GOD FOR TEENAGERS!!!

Teenagers and Technology go hand in hand! My son talked me through this entire process. He already had several music sites bookmarked on our computer, so I surfed Napster, Yahoo, iTunes, Rhapsody, Freemusic and several others. Most of the sites were the free ones, but he did have a subscription for Napster. After selecting an artist (Stevie Wonder) and a song that I liked, I downloaded it to the computer and transferred it to the MP3 player. Since it was so easy to do with step-by-step directions from my son, I decided to download and transfer another song without assistance. This was a very simple procedure even though my son was standing over my shoulder, making sure that I did not make a mistake :). Talk about the tables being turned around.

I am already very familiar with listening to radio stations' websites. I have several stations bookmarked and listen to them regularly at work.