Efforts to create legal music services based on peer-to-peer (P2P) computer networks have yielded a new kind of radio service: Mercora. Like the Napster file-trading service of old, Mercora lets people share the music on their computers with other music fans across the Internet. But instead of letting them download music, as Napster did, Mercora lets them share it via streaming webcasts.
As with other P2P services, the files are stored on the personal computers of the users, not on a central computer. The Mercora software—available to Windows XP and Windows 2000 users—lets each user listen to a webcast, while broadcasting a webcast that others can receive. Unlike other P2P services, Mercora has pledged to be spyware free. The service is free and legal, and operates with the blessings of the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America).
With over 300,000 users signed up, Mercora is picking up steam. When I checked today, it listed 17,170 "stations online" (this number fluctuates greatly depending on the time of day) and close to 25 million "songs available." What follows are comments based on my three-day test-drive of Mercora
HOW IT WORKED
Downloading and installing the software was straightforward. During the process, I was asked to designate a folder of music files I was willing to share. Then the program catalogued the music in the folder and uploaded the information to Mercora's computers. Because I selected my entire music library (25+ GB of files), the process took close to half-an-hour. I was also asked to fill out a brief, optional profile so that listeners to my webcast could know something about me. Note: Only MP3 or Windows Media Audio files are accepted for use. Files with digital rights management (DRM) protection, like those purchased from major label download stores, are ignored. Each file must also come with artist, album, and track information, so that legal restrictions can be enforced on how often music from an artist or album can be played.
When I went to find a station to play, I was given three options: 1) search for webcasts currently playing a given artist 2) view webcasts playing "similar music" to mine (presumably based on the content my library), and 3) view the 100 most popular webcasts. In each case, I saw a list of webcasts and the name of the artist, album, and track currently playing. Clicking on a listing loaded the webcast into my player. The first couple of webcasts I clicked on failed to play smoothly. After this, I had good luck listening to webcasts—though occasionally one would abruptly stop (someone turning their computer off?). While I listened to a webcast, I could read the profile of the webcaster (most hadn't bothered to share much info), add the station or song to a favorites list, and see an album cover and review for the currently playing song. There is also a button that lets you open a chat session with the webcaster, assuming they are willing and available. The webcasts I listened to came from many different places: Israel, Canada, Great Britain, as well as the U.S.
While I explored my listening options, Mercora began advertising and streaming songs from my library to other users. By clicking on the "My Webcast" tab, I could see which song of mine was currently streaming and who had been listening to my webcast and for how long. My biggest listener hailed from Brasilia, Brazil (the vast majority listened less than 2 minutes). I also had the option of creating playlists to submit for webcasting. Note that music sharing is not optional with Mercora. So long as the program is on, it is offering your music to other users. Also, the program automatically launches each time you start up your computer. So far, I haven't found Mercora to be a resource hog, though I should say that my PC is up-to-date and has a lot of memory.
Currently the service is free, but Mercora is looking for ways to charge. This morning when I logged in, I was hit with a questionnaire asking me how much a month I'd be willing to pay for "unlimited" streaming and playing with Mercora (e-mail me and I'll tell you my answer).
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
This was a fun service to use, the software easy to use and intuitive. I enjoyed browsing the station listings and clicking on stations that were playing songs of interest. By making it easy to find stations playing artists and songs that you know, Mercora has solved the problem of how to navigate its vast collection of webcasts. I also found the idea of being connected with other music lovers and sharing my music to be appealing. Though I signed up primarily to see what Mercora offered the listener, I found myself periodically checking on my webcast, to see which song was playing and who was listening. Here, you can try your hand at webcasting for free.
As a listener though, I found myself having to switch stations often, either because a webcast quit on me (someone in Des Moines turned off their computer), or because the music being played took a turn for the worse. The quality and the content of the playlists varied wildly, as though computers were randomly grabbing tracks from people's hard drives—which I suspect they were. Hence, I don't see Mercora as a substitute for thoughtfully programmed radio or for the better personalized radio services.
I see a different use for it: sampling of songs before downloading or buying them. So long as an artist is popular, it is easy to pull up a list of webcasts that provide instant access to a substantial number of songs by that artist. The Mercora software lets you conveniently sort webcast listings by artist, album, or song title, making it easy to pick and play songs from a given album. For example, I found nine songs available from Grammy winner Kanye West's latest album. Likewise, I found eight songs available from U2's latest album. Of course, these numbers are always changing. This type of sampling is not possible with lesser-known artists—at least not yet. But if Mercora continues to grow, that too may be an option.
SUMMARY
Pros
- Rich selection of radio streams
- Ability to find stations currently playing a given artist or song
- Provides a legal music sharing option
- Software is easy to use and spyware free
- Service is free with minimal ads
- Provides ability to create a free webcast
- Community features let you connect with other listeners
Cons
- Less reliable than other Internet radio services
- Playlists vary wildly, appear random at times
- Music from less-popular artists is hard to find
- Only available to Windows XP and Windows 2000 users
Best For
- Sampling music from popular artists
- Connecting with music fans that share your musical interests
- Trying your hand at webcasting, cost-free
—Andy Breeding
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