Music-on-PC

Jimmy Buffett	Nat King Cole	Sheryl Crow	Alan Jackson

click on picture for video

Jimmy Buffett Songs

Nat King Cole Songs

Sheryl Crow Songs

Alan Jackson Songs

From Amazon. Click here on your choice to preview/purchase songs/CD's.

Many of my customers do not play Music-on-PC. Some will use their existing radio, or stereo. But, when I ask them whether they would like to play music on their computer, they frequently are interested. So, I'll copy a few of my albums to their computer, fire up media player, and they are started! Music on PC

Why did I use Windows Media Player? Well, it was there! There are other players which have their features that others like, but these are for more advanced users! Remember, this site is for the computer novice.

Interesting Links

Google rolls out music service to masses 12/22/11

Google is offering a great free music service, that is worth a try. This is available to allow you to hear music on all your devices, free!

These Japanese kids would make Benny Goodman proud!

Star Spangled Banner - sung by 3 kids! brings tears to your eyes!

This article compares most music streaming services - look it over!

Swiss Pianist - Fantastic Boogie + Great Dancing!

Sound Engineers Put together -fantastic song "Stand By Me"

Recent songs and old songs, with videos! Kind of fun!

Martina McBride was digitally dropped in to this track in 2008...Best close-up of Elvis I've ever seen!!!! Martina was 10 when Elvis died.

Why play music on your PC?

• You can store all your CD's on your hard drive

Your hard drive has the capacity to store thousands of songs. Then when you play Music-on-PC, you can mix songs from different albums or artists!

Media Player - from Microsoft

From Microsoft, some basic tips using Media Player.

i-Tunes - from Apple

iTunes, a propietary media From Apple

Caution: Free Music Downloads, is a popular myth! Many infected PC's are a result of looking for free downloads. There are ways of getting some very good music, inexpensively. You should look at Napster.com, eMusic.com, apple.com/itunes and other subscription sites. They have some very good deals for adding to your music collection.

You can then set up playlists (plays from any album, or single in your PC)

For example, I have a playlist called "Easy Listening", which has songs from Nat King Cole, Ann Murray, The Boston Pops Orchestra and many others. Your playlists can play "random" songs (kind of like listening to your favorite radio station) I have a playlist called "Songs from the 70's, 80's and 90's. It has over a hundred songs. When I play it "random", it is as good as a "commercial-free" radio station!

You actually can listen to your favorite station to getMusic-on-PC. I listen to "Mellow Jazz", directly from the internet. Some stations even allow you to record directly from their station. In fact you can listen to stations from around the world! I have one customer who was born in Germany. She plays music on her PC from a German Radio Station.

You can playMusic-on-PC while your "surf the net", or play solitaire, or whatever else you do while on the computer.

When I get on my computer, usually the first thing I do is start my music. It does not interfere with anything else I do, unless I play a movie clip (which also has sound), then I have to pause my music. I even use a wireless headset, so that I can still hear my music around the house!

What's Next?

First let's get familiar with Media Player. If you have a Window PC either XP or Vista, you should already have this installed.

Start by putting any Music CD that you have, and put it in your CD player on your computer.

Now Follow these instructions for Media Player

Downloading Music

Downloading music comes in several forms:

Sharing Music

This is a risky way to get "free" downloads. It is know as P2P (point to point file sharing). Limewire is a common site that people use to download. The problem you face is, that the computers that you connect to, and connect to you can be infected. If they have any malware that your computer doesn't have the correct definitions for, "Zap" - you're infected. The second problem is that you can have a very heavy drain on your computer, if a lot of people connect to you! As a computer technician, I have to clean up a lot of infected computers. Very often, I will see Limewire installed. That is my clue as to what happened. Users (of Limewire) keep telling me they have used it for months with no problem, so their infection must be something else! Do I believe that?....

One of my customers is a college student, and was heavy into file-sharing. Of course, he also got infected a lot. So I taught him how to Format Reload Windows XP, easily. He and his friends would use an older PC, for downloads only. When it got infected, they would just format Reload, and then keep downloading! They also learned how to scan their music files for hidden infections, before they copied them unto their pc.

Of course, they are still at risk from the Recording Industry, where they may be sued for theft of copyright.

Signing up with Download Plans

This is the most popular format. But the problem is, when you try to cut them off, when you don't want them anymore. I've heard war stories, where people had to cancel their credit card to get rid of these memberships. Personally, I stay with those companies that I trust, such as Amazon and my wife had good luck with Napster. So use you best judgement, and be aware! Musi

Music Download Plans

The most popular download plan is iTunes. Apple computers started this service in 2001 for the Apple computers, followed by the iPod, which is an amazingly popular device. Competitors struggle trying to compete with iTunes.

To understand these is essential for music lovers! Younger people are really into iTunes, and so should we "mature" people, though for different music.

To learn about iTunes, read this: Wikipedia on iTunes

Next read from Apple: iTunes from Apple

I have avoided iTunes, because my collection is mostly from CD's, and I use playlists using Media Player. Why? Because, to me this is all free!

But, now, I am planning to start with an iPod, and will convert my music to mp3"s, where I can create playlists on an iPod. iPod, because it is so common, such as connection to my Bose radio, use in my car, etc. I've seen and heard iPods, and they do a really great job. iPods can play: AAC MP3 AIFF and Wav files.

iTunes Alternatives - How does Amazon and the Others Stack Up?

Comprehensive article on comparing music download services

More iTunes alternatives: Can a subscription music service ever succeed?

I am really interested in alternatives, as there is cost savings to consider. I lean toward Amazon for buying individual songs.

Look at the following for more information:

Top Music Sites

This site gives up to date information on music sites. There are so many to choose from!

AOL Music

This is actually pretty good, even though I'm not generally an AOL fan.

Play Piano on your PC

This is something that I plan to do. There is software available, where you can use a PC keyboard, and while that could be fun, you would not be learning to play a piano. To play a piano, you would need a Midi (possibly USB) keyboard. The best would be an 88 key unit. Below is a sample 61 key, USB keyboard, (about $250) that would be suitable for a starter. You would then need some lessons (on-line maybe) or with CD's and/or DVD's.

M-Audio Axiom 61 key Keyboard

Yamaha DGX-530 Keyboard, 88 Full-Sized Lightly Weighted Piano Style Keys

Yamaha 61 Key YP320 has 30 built-in songs (plus 70 more on the included CD-ROM) for you to learn to play using the Yamaha Education Suite. The songs are separated into left and right hand parts, providing 7 levels of lessons plus a convenient chord dictionary.