My recent article on downloadable music and audio file formats generated lots of responses – many with questions, but some with suggestions. Regarding changing files from one audio format to another, such as WAV to MP3, Dave Hollinshead and Doug Lengel wrote that Audacity is an easy-to-use free converter available from http://sourceforge.net.

Many asked questions about which music formats work on which players. Well, there are way too many variables for all to be explained here, but I can offer some pointers. First, what is a "player?"

Well, a player can be a downloadable program (such as Windows Media Player, Winamp, or QuickTime) that works on any Windows-based computer.

As for hardware devices, the iPod was the first (and most successful) portable player. Songs for the iPod can be obtained from iTunes for less than 90 cents each. However, Apple's players and downloading services are pretty much exclusive to each other and unlikely to work with competitive systems.

Other brands of portable players perform with multiple audio formats, such as MP3, WMA and ASF. Music in these formats can be found as free downloads all over the Internet, including on my site.

Younger people, who prefer current pop favorites, tend to download songs from iTunes and play them on their iPods. Older music fans, who enjoy songs of many eras, tend to avoid the limitations of Apple's i-hardware and i-software products. For instance, I have three MP3 players (made by Toshiba, Samsung, and Olympus) but I don't own an iPod. Nor do I have iTunes installed on my computers.

As for finding free songs online, many such music sites are listed on my Home Page. You can also find songs by typing the name of a song and/or performer into a Google search. This may take patience, however, because so many sites use bait-and-switch techniques to sell you all kinds of stuff (not to mention putting your email address on one or more spam lists). Be careful.

Since Windows Media Player comes free with all versions of Windows, I use it exclusively for playing songs on my computer, including playing them in a particular sequence or randomly. When online, you will often be solicited to download other media players, including those by Yahoo, QuickTime, RealPlayer, and MusicMatch Jukebox. They are all fine players, but each comes with its own set of sales gimmicks that I prefer living without.

Songs on my site can be downloaded by right-clicking a name and choosing Save Target As (or Save Link As with Firefox or Netscape). However, choosing Save Target/Link As on some sites will download a Web page link instead of the song. Nonetheless, if you left-click the song it will usually begin playing in Windows Media Player, whereupon you can use File>Save as on WMP-10 to save the song. On WMP-11 right-click the menu bar to find File>Save As.

Some music sites allow the free playing of all their songs, but do not make them easily downloadable. Space here doesn't allow for explaining how to circumvent such barriers, but instructions can be found on my Home Page.

A peculiarity of some downloadable MP3s is that they have an MID extension. Many MP3 players will recognize the MID extension, but some may not. In any case, you can manually change MID to MP3 by right-clicking a filename and choosing Rename. However, if the file actually is a MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) changing MID to MP3 will make the file unuseable.