With all the current hysteria sweeping our culture over MP3, you'd think the savoir, or at least Elvis, had finally returned after his long sabbatical away from Earth. Ah, but no, the only thing that has arrived unexpectedly is a little piece of software called MP3. Now, I don't for one minute deny the importance of this new phenomenon. I believe that just like the hula hoop, it's a tremendously significant development in the history of our culture. In fact, I think the media will probably focus on little else for at least another four or five minutes.

NY Rock recently hosted a booth at the New York Music and Internet Expo, and as a result I wound up fielding question after question about MP3. For two long days I shared my knowledge of the subject with the public at large.

"Is MP3 really big?" Not as big as MP4 will be, I answered, mark my words.

"Do you have MP3 on NY Rock?" Yes, but we don't allow anyone to see or play the clips. It's our way of being different.

"Will MP3 really revolutionize the music industry?" At this point I had driven myself to such a fever, I was nearly talking in tongues. I looked for a bible to grip dramatically and found something even better – the latest edition of MP3 for Dummies. I pointed my free hand to the heavens and roared: MP3 will not only change the way we eat, drink and sleep, it will create a phenomenon akin to the spawning of Christianity. Buildings will tumble. Blood will flow. Rio MP3 players will go forth and multiply.

So what's it all about, Alfie? At its simplest, MP3 is a downloadable audio format that sounds almost but not quite as good as CDs. It allows artists to post their music on the Web and listeners to download the files at will. Since artists can now publish their music with a true sense of immediacy and the public can sit in their underwear and download the clips at four in the morning, MP3 has the industry abuzz. The fact that a ton of the stuff is available for free only adds to the public's insatiable interest in the matter.

Artists such as Tom Petty, Public Enemy and Alanis Morrisette have begun posting their own MP3 files on the net. With top names such as these getting in the fray, the question arises: Is MP3 the beginning of the end for record stores and record companies as we currently know them? We should only be so lucky. Truth is, the convenience of CDs makes the format a keeper. Downloading free music is one thing. Transferring 60 minutes of these clips to your listening device (the maximum time length that the Rio PMP300 Portable Music Player currently holds), every time you want to walk away with new music, can be a bit of a nuisance.

Furthermore, you better believe that the music execs are doing their damndest to curb the trend. Companies such as Diversinet Corporation are busy creating "watermarking" technology (the party-poopers that they are) to allow the music industry to have greater control over the distribution of MP3 content. Diversinet stamps MP3 files with digital certificates so that only authorized users can access them. Needless to say, should Diversinet succeed in this effort, there will be more than a few bootleggers who will have their days seriously ruined.

In addition, a host of companies – including Liquid Audio, Broadcast.com and Diamond Multimedia – recently announced the formation of the Secure Digital Music Initiative, which intends to "[educate] consumers about the value of legitimate content." Whether this education involves a few whacks on the fanny with a wooden ruler is anyone's guess.

Like it or not, the MP3 rage continues. Rich media, push technology, pet rocks, they're all yesterday's news. Sites such as MusicMatch.com, Audiohighway.com and, of course, MP3.com are churning out clips faster than you can say, "Give it to me, baby." Even RealNetworks has joined the fray, announcing recently that they will be enhancing their RealPlayer software to stream the MP3 format, along with Real's proprietary clips. Mama always said if you can't beat 'em, join 'em – and Mama was rarely wrong. Come to think of it, I wonder if she'd be interested in a PMP300 Player for her birthday. If you find any Lawrence Welk MP3 sites out there in cyberland, please don't let me be the last to know.

March 1999