Book details of 'Complete Idiot's Guide to MP3: Music on the Internet'

Title	Complete Idiot's Guide to MP3: Music on the Internet
Author(s)	Rod Underhill, Rod Underhill, Roger McGuinn
ISBN	0789720361
Language	English
Published	January 2000
Publisher	Alpha Communications

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Reviewer amazon.com wrote:
In The Complete Idiot's Guide to MP3 Music on the Internet, you get the full scoop on MP3 tunes. Covered topics include MP3 player software, portable MP3 hardware, ripping CD tracks, digitizing tapes and records, and publishing your music online. There's also some information on copyright as it applies to MP3 files and a guide to Internet sites that publish MP3--material that's useful for musicians as well as listeners. The book begins by showing you why MP3 is one of the best digital music formats. For one thing, most MP3 encoded music is legally free of charge. And because it's completely digital, an MP3 file loaded into a handheld player won't skip while you exercise the way CDs can. On the software side, the book focuses on playing MP3s with Winamp. It also covers Virtuosa Gold and MusicMatch Jukebox for ripping, i.e., encoding music files into the MP3 format. The book devotes more space to the Diamond Rio PMP300 than any other piece of MP3 hardware, but it does an evenhanded job of exploring the other MP3 players available. Perhaps more importantly, the book explains little hardware hacks, such as using a cassette-deck adapter to connect your MP3 device to your car stereo (though it might also have included information on connecting a PC's sound card to a home stereo). About a third of this book is a directory of musicians who have given permission for their MP3 music to appear on the book's companion CD-ROM.
Reviewer Rob Slade wrote:
Part one is an introduction to MP3. Chapter one starts slowly, but does a creditable job of explaining compressed audio files (and a less than perfect job of explaining lossy and lossless compression). A rather terse history, and a decent recounting of the trip from the Motion Picture Experts Group to MP3, is in chapter two. Part two moves on to the getting and playing of MP# files. Chapter three provides you with basic instructions for the player programs and demos on the CD-ROM. Various MP3 related Web sites, mostly MP# archives, are described in chapter four. Portable MP3 players are reviewed in chapter five. Part three looks at making MP3s. Chapter six describes, and gives pointers for, ripping, or copying tracks from CDs to files on the hard drive. The material on digital recording, in chapter seven, is surprisingly short on software recommendations, but has some good tips for the recording process itself. Chapter eight is oddly difficult to follow, but does explain how to compress song files with some of the included demo software. The information on distributing your MP#s, in chapter nine, is limited to the (admittedly free and fairly convenient) service at MP3.com. The same is true for creating an MP3 CD, in chapter ten. Part four deals with digital music and the law. Chapter eleven seems oddly out of place with its discussion on setting up a commercial MP3 Web portal. While there are mentions of provisions in some American legislation relative to home recording, most of chapter twelve concentrates on the evils of large music corporations. Information on copyright and permissions is in chapter thirteen. Chapter fourteen promotes the idea that free MP3s on the net can work to the advantage of writers and singers. Appendix A has stats and opinions from several dozen bands that contributed songs to the companion CD. The authors have included a lot of humour in the book, although it tends to be sarcastic comment. While amusing, these asides don't really support or contribute to the material under discussion. Still, the text, overall, provides not only a good introduction to the technology and its use, but some solid and helpful advice. copyright Robert M. Slade, 2000
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Book description:

You've recently found the Stratocaster you had for your garage band in high school. Uncle Jed's banjo and strumming talent have been passed down to you. Puberty has ended, and your once-shrill voice has turned into an angelic, swooning lullaby-maker that you want the world to hear. Or maybe you've just been unsuccessful at getting your tape heard by recording executives who can't even tap along with chopsticks. Get even. Get heard. Get electronic. Get The Complete Idiot's Guide to MP3: Music on the Internet. This light-hearted guide not only shows you the best way to listen to countless artists and their tunes on the Internet, but also reveals the best ways to get your own opus on the market.