MP3s VS. "Old Fashioned" Compact Discs

By Sara Jamison

What is the future of music? Remember those things called cassette tapes? Yeah, you remember those. Do you realize how obsolete those things are nowadays? The greatest thing to hit music was compact discs, but it seems like the new format of listening to music, MP3s, has become just as much of a hit.

MP3s, which stands for MPEG Layer 3, is a file in which the size of it is much smaller than that on a CD but with nearly the same quality of sound. Because of the smaller disk space it takes up on a computer, it is easier to compile and collect music tracks and burn them onto CDs with the ever-so-popular CD burners now available to every computer owner.

Napster.com, a MP3 trading community, has been sued by various artists because of the distribution of their music without their consent. But is sharing MP3 files really considered illegal?

"No," states a 16 year old teenager from Iowa, "It's like emulators: if you have the CD, you can download it, but if you just download it because it is cheaper, yes."

But as a 15 year old from San Diego, CA states, "I feel kind of guilty, but mainly I don't care about it and I don't even think about it...I just like to get certain songs instead of the whole CD."

Which makes a person wonder if MP3s will have an effect on music sales. The Iowa teenager doesn't believe so. "No, because people still buy the CDs for the lyrics or the pictures or just because they want to. It is a loyalty. If you like them, you will buy their CD, not only one song."

"I still think there will be CD sales," states the Californian. "Cause not everyone uses MP3s but a lot more artists are going to be like Metallica now, taking action on Napster."

But even with the practice of downloading MP3s being illegal, it doesn't stop people from getting a hold of music they enjoy. The Californian boasts approxiamately 120 MP3s in her collection, and considers it a sort of "hobby."

MP3s are obviously the next step in the music scene. But what will it do to the future of music?

States the teenager from Iowa, "it is going to help create new ideas for ways to distribute music."

"Hopefully though," states the teen from CA, "the CD prices will decrease!"

About the Author:

Sara Jamison may be contacted by email at sarajamison@hotmail.com.

Article courtesy of www.suite101.com.