iTunes. Amazon. Pandora. Spotify. BitTorrent. Bearshare. What is the best way to download or listen to music online? What is the best way to store, organize, and play the music you download? What file format should you use for ripping your CDs? How do you convert your vinyl collection to digital audio files? How can you listen to your digital music on your home audio system? Or throughout all the rooms in your house? Can you share your music with your friends on Facebook or Twitter? And where is the best places to find new music online - or discuss your favorite music with fellow music lovers? Despite the doom and gloom projected by traditional record labels, listening to music is just as popular as it has always been - if not more so. It's just that music lovers are finding, downloading, and listening to music online, in digital format. In fact, there are so many options when it comes to digital music that it's confusing to even die-hard listeners. That's where this book comes in. The Ultimate Guide to Digital Music is just as the title suggests - a comprehensive guide to finding, downloading, storing, and listening to digital music. It's more than just a simple guide to using iTunes; it covers every current option for digital music today, both online and off. Readers will learn the answers to all the questions above, plus more that they didn't even know to ask, all written in a style that is easy to understand and a pleasure to read.

Table of Contents

I. Understanding Digital Music 1. The History of Music Distribution - From Piano Rolls to the iPod 2. Exploring the Different Ways to Listen to Music Today 3. How Digital Music Works 4. Understanding Digital Audio File Formats 5. Understanding Copyright, Fair Use, and Other Legal Issues 6. Understanding DRM II. Downloading Music 7. Understanding Music Downloading 8. Downloading Music from the iTunes Store 9. Downloading Music from the Amazon MP3 Store 10. Downloading Music from Other Online Music Stores 11. Finding Free Music to Download 12. Downloading Music from P2P File-Sharing Sites III. Managing Your Music 13. Storing Your Downloaded Music 14. Organizing Your Digital Music Collection 15. Finding and Downloading Cover Art 16. Creating the Perfect Playlist IV. Streaming Music 17. Understanding Streaming Music 18. Listening to Music with Pandora 19. Listening to Music with Spotify 20. Listening to Music with Other Streaming Music Services 21. Accessing Your Music in the Cloud 22. Listening to Internet Radio V. Playing Your Music - At Home 23. Understanding Home Digital Music Playback 24. Ripping Your Physical Music Collection 25. Playing Digital Music on Your Computer 26. Playing Digital Music on a Home Media Player 27. Playing Your iPod or iPhone on Your Home Audio System 28. Building a Whole-House Audio System VI. Playing Your Music - On the Go 29. Understanding Portable Music Players 30. Playing Music on Your iPod or iPhone 31. Examining Other Portable Digital Music Players 32. Listening to Streaming Music on Your Portable Music Player VII. Sharing Your Music 33. Understanding Different Ways to Share Digital Music 34. Burning Your Music to CD or USB Drive 35. Sharing Your Music Over a Network or via Email 36. Sharing Your Music - Socially VIII. Discovering New -Music 37. Discovering New Music with Last.fm 38. Discovering New Music on Amazon, iTunes, and Other Music Services 39. Discovering New Music via Social Media 40. Exploring the Best New Music Sites and Blogs