9 replies to this topic

[Alexcremers]

First of all, I've never made anything on the internet so maybe this sounds all very silly. I want to make a web page with, let's say, 20 mp3 tracks. Very basic stuff. No background, just a white page. Sometimes I see this little bars with a play button. I would like to have that for my own music so people can hear it without me sending them CDs all the time. Every music 'bar' on that page needs to have a number and a title. That's it! Does anyone know how to that? Or refer me to a place where they explain it in layman's terms?

Oh, yes, the music has to be undownloadable (or else they will steal it!). Is that even possible?


Thank you.



Alex

[Alexander]

I've came across some sites where i just couldn't download the music or video.

But you can always play the music and record it with Audacity.

[Koray Savas]

Anyone can steal streaming music.

[Melange]

Box.net is a good free one for storing files and linking to them. I've always used the 'click to' usage of it, which links the page viewer to the location on Box.net to then play or download the file. But they also have an embed player function which can play the file from a page of your choosing by the viewer clicking on it.

I only saw that feature of box.net recently and if memory serves the play button is quite a big icon when embedded on a page of your choice. It was also a little slow in loading up, in that way. I didn't use it for both those reasons and have stuck with the link to box.net file. But if you want something quick just to refer people to then that is an option. The page could be a simple blogspot.com account using minima template, unless you specifically want your own website that hosts files.

[Alexcremers]

Thanks! Hmm, a blog ... must look into that. But can't everyone see or find me if you have a blog? People shouldn't be able to have access to my 'music page' unless I want it to. I understand that I will be dependent on some kind of 'music file player' and that isn't an easy thing to do if you're starting a blank web page from scratch, right?



Alex - who only knows how to post comments on forums when it comes to the web.

[Melange]

When a blog is set up on Blogger.com, in the settings / publishing (can't remember which at the moment) section there is a setting which allows it to be automatically searchable and located via things like Google. By default it's on that when you create one, so you need to change it to 'no' so that it won't appear in their listings nor be picked up elsewhere. Once that is done, nobody would randomly find the blog nor would goggle pick up post titles and link to your pages etc etc. It doesn't stop the page being accesible if someone knew the url of your blogspot page though. It depends how you want it all to appear, and the long term motive I guess.

If you're aiming to be noticed on a professional basis, then maybe a blogspot page wouldn't impress too much? And there could also be the issue of ownership of whatever is put up on there and box.net. I can't remember what the terms were on Blogger.com, but as it's owned by google now then there may be that problem of them saying that whatever you host on there is essentially their property.

[Alexcremers]

Are you familiar with 'soundcloud'?

http://soundcloud.com/dashboard


What do you think of it? It looks easy enough but I can't find how to make my stuff private. Their player looks a bit big and agressive though (with a graphic waveform of the music). It immediately sets a mood that I don't like.


Alex

[Alexcremers]

Aha! Soundcloud has a 'Secret Link' function. So only people with a secret link will find your page. The uploaded tracks won't show up on your profile or in search results. That's exactly what I need! You can also make a playlist of your tracks and it looks more attractive than those huge waveform bars.

PS: Watching everyone's waveforms on Soundcloud is sickening! It's like finding yourself in the middle of the Loudness Wars!

[Stefancos]

So whats your music like? Who are you inspired by? Williams, Vangelis, Iggy Pop?

[Faleel]

Nah, we all know its inspired by barney.