.m3u foolproof?

[thehouseofshawn]

Is .m3u foolproof? I want to allow people to download a few songs...I feel like that is the best way to get stuff...but for the people who want it all...I thought about streaming the rest. Just wondering if anyone would be able to access the actual .mp3 file from it or from the site.

[thehouseofshawn]

Excerpt from Music Tech Magazine The New Music Business:

"...the alternative to making your material availbe as a download is to stream the MP3 file. Untile recently, to do this you had to use Real Audio, but it's not necessary anymore because the Real One playesr can nwo stream MP3 files. You'll need to implement some basic HTML to do it, though. This is how it works:
Upload your MP3 files to a signle folder on your web host's server. Let's say you've named the folder 'my_mp3s'..."
"...type a single line of text containing the URL of the MP3 that you intend to stream. This will be something like:
'http:www.mysite.com/mp_mp3s/mysong_1.mp3'.
Save the text file, but change its edxtension from txt to m3u. Call it something like mysong_m3u'. This is a 'meta' file..."
"...Upload the newly created meta file to the folder containing for MP3s (my_mp3s) and create a link on your web page pointing to the meta file.
When your visitor clicks on the link, the meta file (with the .m3u extension_ is downloaded to the computer's Desktop. This happens very quickly because it's only a few bytes in size..."

I'd post that in case someone mgiht say, 'what the hell??!?!"

[Halion]

Yes, people can get their hands on your MP3s even if you use .m3u files.

[thehouseofshawn]

Originally Posted by Halion

Yes, people can get their hands on your MP3s even if you use .m3u files.

How do they do that?

[Jeff_D]

Originally Posted by thehouseofshawn

How do they do that?

If you open the M3U file in notepad it shows the exact path to the Mp3 and from there its pretty easy.

[teacee90]

Originally Posted by Halion

Yes, people can get their hands on your MP3s even if you use .m3u files.

With a Audigy 2 ZS Sound Card and there software, they have a recording option called "what you hear" option and it records anything you hear coming thru your speakers, via sound card, radio streams, mp3's whatever.