What is audio?
Few things transcend cultural boundaries better than music. Archeologists around the world have unearthed ancient musical instruments demonstrating that music is indelibly linked into the human psyche. Every culture has a love of music, and every language has an audible component; in short, sound is an integral part of humanity.
When music went online, the music game changed dramatically. Today, people listen to more different styles of music from across cultural boundaries than ever before. Today it is possible to embed any music, sound, or audio of your choice into your website, or you can stream audio from anywhere in the world easily without having any programming skills.
Who needs audio?
Any website that is about music has an obvious need to incorporate audio. However, any website owner that takes the time to consider the possibilities integrating audio offers will discover a need for audio modules/components. Product and service descriptions are enhanced by audio, testimonials become more powerful when heard, and educational materials like study guides and lectures are easy to embed or even transform into a podcast.
If you want your message, lecture, song, or concerto to be heard – you need audio. More importantly, music has always been a key part of advertising, and today it is easier to embed music or sound into online ads than ever before.
What does audio do?
Audio components play sound files in a wide variety of formats MP3, WMV, WMA, WAV, MIDI, and streaming MP3 & NSV. Configured properly, they provide a graphical interface for your customers to view a MP3 collection, or they can act as personal jukebox, podcaster, or stream MP3 files from anywhere on the internet. Some have a neat feature that measures statistics to track which audio files on the website are the most popular.
They are easy to install and most of them rely on freely available MP3 players. A few can integrate interactive musical scores that display musical notes as the song plays, and if customer likes it they can print the score. In addition to these features, other options include:
Play a random list of mp3s from a folder, or a specified list of mp3 files
Unlimited playlists with an unlimited number of files
Parameters can be set globally or locally
Play a mp3 file wherever it is on the Net
Multiplayer capability
Ability to share audio located on other websites
What is achieved?
Audio allows you to include podcasts about your product or service offering, and adding sound to your site will enhance the whole user experience.
An online social community with audio capability allows users to customize their pages with their favorite tunes, or share playlists. Ultimately, if you use a little imagination, audio components will open up your site to the potential customer base that you see everywhere with earphones stuck in their heads – effectively letting your content – music, study guides, lectures, or podcasts go anywhere with, or without internet access.