| Royalty Free Music > Music News > Music for Websites: Tips and Tools
August 4th, 2008
Businesses of all types and sizes recognize the value of music for websites . Adding music to your website not only helps to build your company's image and promote its products or services but also keeps visitors surfing longer, which could result in higher sales. However, many business owners do not know how to upload music for websites. Believe it or not, you don't need a lot of technical expertise to add music to your company's website. To get you started, we have outlined several tools and techniques that make the process of uploading music to your website fast and easy.
One of the most common methods for uploading music for websites is to use a streaming media tool. Wimpy offers several customizable and non-customizable streaming media tools, many available for free. Our favorite is the Wimpy Rave, a multimedia jukebox that can be skinned to fit the look of your site. To begin, download a free version of Wimpy Rave. If you are not sure which version of Wimpy Rave is compatible with your server, select the PHP version or ask your company's webmaster. When prompted, select "save" to store the zip file in an easily accessible location on your computer. After the download is complete, unzip the files by double-clicking on the zip file and move the files inside to a new folder. If you are not prompted to unzip the files, you will need to download a un-zip program such as WinZip or Stuffit . Next, upload the files from your computer to your web server using an FTP (file transfer protocol) program. You can FTP with Internet Explorer using some versions of Windows. However, Wimpy does not recommend using Internet Explorer. WS_FTP , Filezilla , or Wimpy FTP provide better results when installing Wimpy Rave on a PC. For Mac users, Wimpy recommends using Fetch as an FTP. To upload files using an FTP program, you will need a few pieces of information: an FTP host address, an FTP user name, and an FTP password. After you log into your FTP program, you will need to locate the folder or directory that houses your web site. Look for a folder named "public_html". Inside this folder, you should find a web root file called "index.html". This file should be your home page. It is important to note, however, that some servers are set up to use a different default file (for example, the default file on your server could be named index.htm or default.htm). To make sure that you have the correct web root, create a text file and upload it to the web root directory. Then open up your internet browser and type the URL that corresponds to the text file. If you see the text from your text file in your browser, you have the correct web root. After you have found the web root, create a new directory inside your web root directory named "mp3s". You are now ready to upload the Wimpy files into your mp3s folder. Once the upload is complete, open a new browser window and type http://www.yoursite.com/mp3s/wimpy.php . The Wimpy player should appear. If you see code instead of the Wimpy player, you might have uploaded the wrong version so try installing the ASP or ColdFusion versions instead. If the alternate versions do not work, refer to these troubleshooting tips on Wimpy's website.
Another way to upload music for websites is to embed the music into a Flash file (.swf). Many business owners prefer this method of uploading music for websites because Flash has the unique ability to translate a large wav file into an mp3 to produce seamless music loops. Don't know how to create Flash files? No problem. Royaltyfreemusic.com can produce .swf files for you. Contact us to find out more about this service. For more information about Flash, check out Flashkit . This site features a broad range of resources for uploading music for websites using Flash, including tutorials and free downloadable Flash player templates.
With the increased focus on copyright protection by the RIAA and other agencies, it is now more important than ever to make sure your use of music for websites does not violate intellectual property laws. When you purchase music for websites from Royaltyfreemusic.com, you are granted a licensing agreement that includes synchronization and performance rights. In other words, you are free to synchronize the music with multimedia content and play the music publicly on your website without negotiating additional licenses from publishing companies and performing rights organizations such as ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC. Additionally, you will not incur ongoing licensing fees when you buy music for websites from Royaltyfreemusic.com. Check out our specials page for great deals on music for websites today!
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