Music downloads have changed the way we listen and buy music. No more trips to the record store or mountains of CD cases to manage. Instead, a click here, a click there, and voila - music! But it’s not always as easy as that, is it? First, you must find and download the files. Next, audio files come in numerous different formats with innovations being made in an attempt to provide smaller files with higher sound qualities. The various formats have specific requirements as far as which media players will actually play the music. To top it off, music producers are adding “Digital Rights Management” which protects their copyright and restricts how you can use the music.
Let’s tackle the problem with downloading the files first. If you can’t download music files in the first place, then of course, playing them will be impossible. Something may be interfering with downloads in general. This brief article discusses common causes of download failures.
Once music files are in place, it’s not always a sure thing that they will play. Among the more common audio formats are: .wav, .midi, and .mp3. Just about all media players will play these files. However, newer audio formats and proprietary formats such as .wma and .ra require compatible media players (Windows Media Player and Real Player respectively).
In addition to the audio formats, audio codecs abound. Codecs are “compression/decompression” utilities that various audio files use. If a file has been compressed using a specific codec, it must be decompressed by a media player that supports the codec used.
Digital Rights Management (DRM) is used to ensure that users who buy music online use it according to the rights that they purchased. For example, if you have an unlimited music to go subscription on Rhapsody, you can download anything you want to your portable MP3 player and listen to it for as long as your subscription is valid. However, once your subscription lapses, the music no longer plays. Likewise, you can’t copy the music files to other “unregistered” MP3 players or your friends’ computers, nor can you burn them to CD. How does the file know? DRM. You must hook up your MP3 player to the Rhapsody Web site periodically to verify your subscription or the music stops after a preset time. The file knows that it can’t be burned to CD because of the DRM coding within it. The file knows which computers and MP3 players it is authorized to play on.
With all of these factors, it’s no wonder that some music files won’t play. The first step is to determine where it came from and if it has DRM issues. If the file doesn’t have DRM restrictions, the next step is to determine what type of file it is and use the appropriate media player. For example, if it is a .wma (Windows Media Audio) file, you will need to use Windows Media Player. If it’s a .ra (Real Audio) file, you will need to use Real Player. If the file has been compressed with a specific codec, your media player may or may not have built-in support for the codec. Updating the media player often adds new codec support.
Celeste Stewart | September 8th, 2008
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