Music on the internet: the internet as a new distribution medium for the music industry

This thesis was written when the Internet was just beginning to find its feet as a multimedia entertainment medium capable of realistically distributing music and video. This paper discusses the technological and moral issues involved.

• Music on the internet: the internet as a new distribution medium for the music industry
  • Introduction
  • Part One: Context and historical background
    • A brief history of computer sound
    • The soundcard
    • Sound file formats
    • Traditional music delivery formats
  • Part Two: Music industries on the Internet
    • Music on the internet today
  • Part Three: Delivering music over the internet
    • Bandwidth problems
    • Digital audio compression
    • Streaming media
  • Part four: Protecting music on the Internet
    • The problem: audio piracy
    • Performance rights
    • Digital audio watermarking
    • how does digital audio watermarking work?
    • Problems with protecting music on the internet
  • Part five: Selling music on the Internet
    • Music retail
    • Music On Demand
  • Conclusion: Music in the digital age
  • References