Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The promise of MP3 -- CD-quality sound over the Internet -- is shaking up the music industry! Whether you want to download songs directly from musicians, broadcast your own radio station over the Web, or store an infinite personal collection of songs on your computer, MP3 is bound to change your relationship with music.

For musicians and music lover alike, MP3 For Dummies contains . . . A glossary of terms that explains technical language in real English A step-by-step guide to make your computer MP3-compliant A handy directory to where all those MP3 songs are stored on the Internet A how-to guide to turn your desktop computer into a high fi sound system using your home stereo Instructions to make MP3s from your own music collection An explanation of how to create and record compositions and then transform them into professional-quality MP3s Information about uploading files you create to MP3 sites

Included with your MP3 For Dummies is a CD-ROM starter kit that includes Shareware versions of MusicMatch Jukebox and Winamp as well as a trial version of SoundJam MP and live links to MP3 sites.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Introduction (p. 1)
• Part I What's MP3 and How Do I Use It? (p. 7)
• Chapter 1 Just Get Me Going! (p. 9)
• Chapter 2 Turning Your Computer into an MP3 Machine (p. 19)
• Part II Downloading and Playing MP3 Files from the Internet (p. 39)
• Chapter 3 Finding the Best Free MP3 Files (p. 41)
• Chapter 4 Downloading MP3 Files from the Internet (p. 55)
• Chapter 5 Swapping or Swiping: Napster, Napigator, Gnutella, BearShare, and Aimster (p. 77)
• Chapter 6 Playing MP3 Files on Your Computer and Home Stereo (p. 97)
• Chapter 7 Choosing and Using MP3 Players (p. 121)
• Chapter 8 Listening To or Setting Up an MP3 Radio Station (p. 139)
• Part III Creating Your Own MP3 Files (p. 159)
• Chapter 9 Ripping Songs from a CD, Album, TV, Radio, Tape, or Microphone (p. 161)
• Chapter 10 Completing the MP3 File with an Encoder (p. 175)
• Chapter 11 MusicMatch's All-in-One Software: From CD to MP3 (p. 183)
• Chapter 12 Saving MP3 Songs on a CD (p. 203)
• Part IV MP3s for the Musician (p. 209)
• Chapter 13 Why Bother with MP3s? (p. 211)
• Chapter 14 Composing Songs for MP3 (p. 221)
• Chapter 15 Musician's Guide to Turning Songs into MP3s (p. 235)
• Chapter 16 Making Money from Your MP3s (p. 245)
• Part V The Part of Tens (p. 265)
• Chapter 17 The Ten Best MP3 Sites (p. 267)
• Chapter 18 Ten Ways MP3 Helps Musicians (p. 275)
• Chapter 19 The Ten Most Useful MP3 Utilities (p. 279)
• Chapter 20 Ten Things to Know about Copyrights (p. 283)
• Chapter 21 (Almost) Ten Rumors about MP3 (p. 287)
• Chapter 22 Ten Quick Ways to Use MP3 (p. 293)
• Part VI Appendixes (p. 297)
• Appendix A About the CD (p. 299)
• Appendix B Glossary (p. 317)
• Index (p. 323)
• Hungry Minds, Inc. End-User License Agreement (p. 339)
• Installation Instructions (p. 341)
• Book Registration Information

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

MP3 is a great compression standard that preserves quality sound at very small file sizes, which download quickly across the web. MP3s have quickly made their way off the web onto portable devices such as the Rio, the Nomad, Windows CE, and many more. Like Rod Underhill and Nat Gertler's The Complete Idiot's Guide to MP3 (Computer Media, LJ 11/1/99), Rathbone's volume discusses everything you need to know: downloading, creating MP3 sites, and setting up your own MP3 radio station on the net. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Andy Rathbone is the author of the bestselling "Windows For Dummies" books, as well as other titles in the "For Dummies" series. He was born in San Diego, California and attended San Diego State University. He majored in Comparative Literature, and graduated in 1986. He began freelancing for computer magazines shortly thereafter, and wrote the first edition of "Windows for Dummies" in 1992.