RE: How can I embed an .mp3 sound file in a web page?

[Richard Smith <rsmith -at- rapidlogic -dot- com>]

As far as formats go, you really have only a few choices. 
WAV is nearly impossible because files are just too big, even with a T1 it
still takes a while. 

MP3 is a popular option because audio quality can be scaled to optimize file
size(reducing quality reduces file size). Also mp3 *can* be streamed. Users
must have an MP3 player on their PC.

Real media (though I have a political disposition against RM), is a
proprietary media playback that works via a browser plugin. RM is decent
quality and like MP3 can be streamed. You must have RM software to create RM
files and users must have/get Real player. It is worth noting that many BIG
sites like MTV use RM, some use it exclusively. 

Windows media (.WMA .WMV .ASF) and so on are also becoming popular formats
and may be viable if your audience is not Mac or *nix centric. It also
streams, and works natively with (most)win 98 + machines. I'm not sure
whether the software to create Windows media is free or not, check with MS. 

A growing number of commercial sites employ both Windows media and RM. I
guess the logic is that 90+ percent of the world uses windows and the other
10% can download RM if they don't like it.

Embedding, as has been mentioned, will piss more people off than it will
dazzle. Most of the world is still using dial-up, so pages loaded with lots
of extras will turn people away.

FYI www.webmonkey.com has some awesome tutorials on these things, and links
to great stats about what users really have. Like how many people have RM,
what the average Monitor size is, what percentage of the world uses Netscape
2.0, or IE 5.5.


Richard Smith
Technical Writer
Wind River Systems
Networks Business Unit



> Lillian wrote:
> Subject: Re: How can I embed an .mp3 sound file in a web page?
> 
> I'm  setting set up a web site for a small music company, so I'd like
> to know how to do this when you believe your audience *will* wait
> for the download.
> 
> My client probably will opt for a clickable link (I know how 
> to do that)
> to play a less-than-one-minute excerpt of a musical 
> selection, instead of
> automatically loading a long aural piece. Perhaps Peter or someone
> could comment on the pros and cons of using .mp3 vs. .wav or other
> audio formats -- and the players they require. 
> 
> My web page will have to work on all major platforms of course. Seems
> that this should be akin to using PDFs with a link to the 
> Acrobat download
> for formatted text files?
> 
> I thought something similar was discussed a couple of months ago,
> but my archive search didn't turn up anything relevant.
 

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