Internet streaming audio is
the most prevalent form of multimedia on the Internet today
according to Creative, one of the leading companies in the
sound hardware field. Over the last few years, streaming
audio has moved from being a curiosity to a business
strategy that is adopted by many media organizations.
Streaming Audio has always
been available to the big corporate sites and techies. Now
every one can use simple software to produce their
own streaming audio from a web site.
Marketers and business people
have always known that a well-placed audio stream can
increase sales and signups to their products and services.
The problem has always been that the average person could
not afford the high cost of special servers or programmers
to be able to use this technology.
There have been a number of
products around that provide streaming audio however as they
have grown and developed so have the plugins sizes required for
listening to the streaming files.
With the new software
available today anyone can add audio to their web sites
without the need for any large plugins and complicated
software. Simply add your audio file and choose a component
to activate the stream and click go. These programs output
all the necessary files, which you can then use to embed in
your web pages with a quick copy and paste. This is all done
with flash.
The web visitor can simply
click and listen, even over a standard 56K modem. There are
two types of streaming audio I can offer you. The first is a
semi automated system that is great for pretty well every
application and the second is a HI FI solution for high
quality and control of the audio stream.
MP3 Sound Stream
- Visit
the website A general purpose
streaming audio generator for most uses. Produces streaming
files even for 56 k dial up.
HiFi Audio Stream - Visit
the Web Site
A high quality streaming
generator for high end streaming mainly over broadband
connections. Full control over compression rate.
Audio Must be Online
Skat - At The Cafe
Overview
There are 5 basic steps to
creating audio files and putting them on your Web site:
Setting up recording
hardware.
Record the material as a
WAV or MP3 file.
Remove Noise and Static
(optional) from WAV file.
Compile the audio file
into a streaming audio format usually flash
Update your web page with
the new files and appropriate links.
This might all sound
difficult but you probably already have the hardware
available on your machine and are ready to go. Most people
just need to purchase a good quality mic.
But first, a glossary of
terms for the beginners:
What is . . .
Bit-rate:
(bps = bits-per-second) the rate at which bits (1 or 0 -
a single piece of information) are streamed through a
system. A prefix of k (ex, kbps) means that the units
are multiplied by 1000, i.e., 28.8 kbps = 28,800
bits-per-second.
Freeware:
software that is free to use forever. There are no
strings, no catches. However, some programmers ask that
you not tamper with the software and redistribute it,
while other go so far as to provide the source code for
the program.
Shareware:
software that is free to download or share with friends.
Typically it comes crippled or with some kind of nag
built in to encourage registering the software. It is
understood that to honestly use shareware, you must
register the software after you have tried it out and if
you decide to keep it. Otherwise, you should erase it.
Registering costs vary from product to product.
Shareware Demo:
software that is provided with the same understood
policy as shareware; however, it is typically severely
crippled and may not even be able to save files. Often
the full registered version is of higher quality than
plain shareware, but it is usually more expensive too.
WAV:
a sound file format that is uncompressed. WAV formats
perfectly preserve the audio information with zero
compression. Therefore, they are very easy to decode and
translate into sound, but they also produce huge data
files (250 Mbytes for 40 minutes of mono sound).
MP3:
a sound file format that follows a standard compression
technique, officially known as MPEG 2 Layer-3.
Video and audio can both be stored in the MP3 format. Virtually
no audio information is lost in converting to the MP3
format if the same sampling frequency or greater
is used for encoding compared to that used in the
original recording. MP3 files are much smaller than the
original file (5.5 Mbytes for 40 minutes of 16,000 Hz
Mono). Requires a special program for playback which can
be downloaded for free from many sites. Check out the Web
site of the guys who invented the MP3 format and are
busy on MP4.
.
Streaming Audio
a method of playing audio files from the web. The audio
is played as it arrives off the Internet. The file is
not preserved on the computer, so a network connection
must be sustained to play the audio file.
6
uses for Streaming Audio
1)
Musicians - One of the greatest problems musicians have
is a way to present their music. Rather than offering a few
songs why not create a mini radio show with highlights of
each song with some commentary.
2)
Create Products – Many people do interviews or can use
the phone to ring some one special. Why not record
these and create a product. Ready to click
here and order yet?
3)
Personal – Create audio cards for special occasions.
Christmas, birthdays or just say high to mum and dad on the
other side of the world!
4)
Ezines - With many servers prohibiting long emails,
ezine owners are posting their newsletters online and just
sending a link. This enables you to add interviews,
testimonies, music and so much more.
5.)
Training - Coaching is on the rise and it is so easy to
produce a coaching audio to teach people about your product,
encourage team members, network marketing training. Colleges
can record lectures, churches can record sermons and they
can all be streamed over the internet using MP3
Sound Stream.
6.)
Marketing - Marketers and business people have always
known that a well-placed audio stream
can increase sales and signups to
their products and services. The problem has always
been that the average person could not afford the high cost
of special servers or programmers to be able to use this
technology. That is now changed with the development of MP3
Sound Stream.
So now that you're
considering adding the sweet sound of audio to your
site, where might you want to use it?
Depending on your website's
content and theme, there are a variety of ways to
incorporate your audio into it. For example:
You might place a welcome
message on your front page, summarizing your site's
highlights, informing visitors of what they'll find, and
thanking them for stopping by.
If you have an "about
us" page on your site, you might want to record a brief
message to accompany your background info. This will help
people feel as if they're actually meeting you.
Since testimonials are a
great enhancement to any site imagine if you actually added
them in your customer's own voice. If you use one of the
phone recording services you could give them the number and
they could easily record how they feel about your
products/services.
If your site has been
featured in an online interview or radio show, imagine
including this audio in your site. Just think of it as your
very own live press room.
Perhaps just adding some
pleasant music for your visitors to listen to as they view
your web pages.
There are many features that
these new programs provide the user.
Produce as many files as
you like.
No need for expensive programmers
Many allow you to host them on your own server - you're in
control.
Greatly reduce the size of your audio file.
Streams over most modem connections
Easy to use interface
Added components for more variety
So now that you're actually
thinking of recording something and adding it to your site,
how do you do it? There are many different ways, some more
expensive then others. Let's examine some of your choices a
little more closely.
1) MP3 Sound Stream: http://mp3soundstream.com/
Creates streaming audio from MP3 or Wav files. Produces high
quality output for only $39.95. This is the preferred choice
for versatility.
2) Audio Generator:http://www.audiogenerator.com/
Streaming audio using just your browser. Easy to use, you
can phone in your message or use MP3 files. Excellent sound
quality. After recording your message paste some code onto
your site and a button appears with your audio. $29.95
monthly.
3) Sonic Memo:http://www.sonicmemo.com/
Includes a step-by-step tutorial. You'll have to create your
own MP3 files and upload them to your server. If you record
WAV files, you'll have to first convert them to MP3 format.
This software sells for $97.00.
4) Hi Fi Audio Stream:http://hifiaudiostream.com/
This is so simple to
install on your
computer and add audio to your web pages. This web site
contains a complete set of tutorials for full,
easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions. It's as easy as
1-2-3 with HiFi Audio Stream software. (Download
a free fully functional demo.) $49.95
Your site has been sending
non-verbal messages for years; now it's time to break free
and let it send a message everyone can hear. Adding audio to
your website is not only easy to do, it can help you gain
the trust of your site's visitors, thus increasing your
conversion rate. So stop wasting your time and money, and
start getting the sales you may be missing.
