how do you get one song in mp3?

[paul wheaton]

I heard an old song the other day and decided to acquire it. Rather than buying the whole album, I thought I would try one of these things where you could get one song for a buck.

I have a small pile of mp3's and thought I would like to add this to the pile.

So I go to mp3.com. found the song, clicked on a "buy". found a few more and bought those too.

Turns out it isn't mp3. Instead it's "wma"?? What the hell is that?

Plus there were a few other songs I thought of that were not available. What a rip!

I remember a song called "Oh Superman" by Laurie Anderson. By "remember" I mean that I remember that I liked it. But I can't really remember the music. Do I have to buy the album to hear this song again?

[Ernest Friedman-Hill]

Do I have to buy the album to hear this song again?

Call me, and I could sing part of it to you.
[ September 28, 2004: Message edited by: Ernest Friedman-Hill ]

[Jim Yingst]

WMA is Windows Media Audio. Microsoft's answer to MP3. Pretty common. Can be played directly on Windows Media Player, WinAmp, or various other players. Can also be converted to other formats via various available tools out there - though conversion from WMA to MP3 may be slightly more lossy than a direct conversion to MP3. What software do you currently listen to your MP3's on?

Another option: Anderson's "Big Science" (CD version, containing "O Superman") is currently on-shelf at the Boulder Public Library. There's no shortage of programs that could convert this to MP3 for you.