Any recommendations for mp3 streaming/playing module for a website?

[superboyac]

I know nothing about website designing/programming, but I'm good enough with computers to put together a simple website with the proper no-brainer tools like Dreamworks (I don't know if this is still a good software, I used Dreamworks to make a couple of webpages 5 years ago!).  And I can also tweak a little bit of code if necessary, but nothing major.

I'm looking to make a webpage that simply has a bunch of text on it and also a place for the user to play an mp3.  I don't want them to be able to download the mp3, just play it off the webpage, kind of like you see on those annoying myspace sites.  Is there some module or program that people recommend for this?  I'd like the user to have pretty good control on the mp3 file, as in they should be able to play/stop, rewind/ff either with dragging the scrollbar AND with buttons, and I'd also like them to be able to see the time remaining/played on the display.  In other words, I don't want just a simple play and stop button.

That being said, from a user standpoint, what do people prefer?  Do people prefer to play the music directly from the website, or do people like to click on a song and have it open up in their own computer's default player?  I don't really care if people download the song, so I can make it ultra easy and just link the mp3 file, but I wanted to be just a little more sophisticated!

By the way, this is for a monthly music contest, where people listen to a song and discuss the details of the tune.

[mouser]

great question, i look forward to reading the replies!

[brotherS]

Since that is a rather special question you might not get many answers from DC members. In that case I suggest you try Google, then the Winamp forum, then maybe one or two forums of (smaller) radio stations that are using what you want.

Good luck!

[Veign]

This is something I came across a long time ago and saved.

Also, the Wimpy Player comes recommened for a more powerful and professional solution.

[superboyac]

Since that is a rather special question you might not get many answers from DC members. In that case I suggest you try Google, then the Winamp forum, then maybe one or two forums of (smaller) radio stations that are using what you want.

Good luck!

-brotherS (March 24, 2006, 10:17 AM)

Really?  I did a search last night for this question, but I couldn't word the search good enough to get any helpful results.  I thought DC would be a perfect place to ask this.  I like the way people think in here.  Let's see if anyone responds, then I'll check out some of the other forums.

[superboyac]

This is something I came across a long time ago and saved.

Also, the Wimpy Player comes recommened for a more powerful and professional solution.

-Veign (March 24, 2006, 10:44 AM)

Nice, Veign!  That Wimpy looks like it might be just the thing.  I'll start experimenting with it this weekend.

[Veign]

Wimpy is something I have kept in the back of my mind for a long time.  Its a very nice tool and the prices are right.

[vegas]

I too have looked for this for years.  A simple solution that just lists your mp3's from a certain directory (or directory + sub-directories) on your hard drive as a text file.  then you can click play, pause, stop, etc. on the left of each listing.  I once saw what I believe was a Perl script on someone's webpage that did exactly this, fast and flawlessly.  Needless to say i never was able to find the page again.

[kimmchii]

swf stream?
swf can stream mp3 and for video flv.

[superboyac]

On second thought, I think I may just use the .m3u method and let people use their own player to open up the file.  I think that's how I would prefer it if I wer the user, because I'd have total control of the playback, and it keeps things simple. 

[MDupreejr]

Also think about using formats that windows media player can play by default so that people don't have to have a mp3 player (i'm not sure that wmp can read .m3u )

Also check out kplaylist, it may be of some interest to you.

[superboyac]

Also think about using formats that windows media player can play by default so that people don't have to have a mp3 player (i'm not sure that wmp can read .m3u )

Also check out kplaylist, it may be of some interest to you.

-MDupreejr (March 24, 2006, 04:23 PM)

kplaylist looks cool, but I think I'm most comfortable with the simplistic m3u method.  One thing to note is that I don't have much web space (free isp service), so it's not like I can keep several mp3's on the server.  I will probably keep just the one song for that month, and then replace it with the next song.

Last time I checked, wmp can definitely play m3u.  I'm sorry, but if your computer can't play an mp3 file, I would say you're not in the norm. 

Here's how the website will work, I will post the song that the musicians will analyze.  People will go to the site, listen/download the song, and post their comments in another discussion forum (not my own, it already exists).  Then, I will take all the comments and put it together in a template I have set up, and post it on my website.  Each round will be archived on the site somehow in case people want to see past results.  As far as the results, I'd like to keep them as simply formatted as possible.  If it were up to me, they'd all be simple text files, but I know that would turn some people off, so I would probably have it limited to normal rtf formatting.  I was thinking about pdf's, but pdf's always feel too bulky for me.

If anyone has some useful advice/comments, I'd appreciate it.  Especially for the template and archiving part.

[superboyac]

(I don't know if this is still a good software, I used Dreamworks to make a couple of webpages 5 years ago!)

I meant Dreamweaver, of course.  I hate sounding like a Newbie!  Doh!

[tsaint]

Super, see if you like this player ...
http://www.tony.dcme...sic/freeplayer3.html
It only plays 1 mp3, which you said prob suited you, but if you duplicate the swf, you can set it up to play many.
I found it at http://www.enricolai...om/flash_mp3_player/
Re displaying comments, does this sound similar to your need (replace photos with rtf docs)?
I take photos of the whiteboard at school after each lesson (about 5) and want to post them online.
So I needed a program to look in my folder of photos and create a webpage (of links) to those photos.
Thus I come out with a folder of photos plus an index.html file for those photos. It has to be done automatically, else its too tedious.
I used dirhtml from http://home.pacbell....dirhtml/dirhtml.html - a freeware program which allows for templates for the resulting index webpage.

Having said all that, I then wrote an autokey script to do basically the same thing for me (Im not crazy, there was a reason, namely I wanted more control over the template). If you go to my website (http://tony.dcmembers.com) -> school in the menu, you'll see a very unpretty but it works set of examples
If you want any more info, pm or email me
tony

[mouser]

that flashmp3 player is pretty nice!

[Mark0]

This also is pretty nice:

XSPF Web Music Player (Flash) - Plays MP3 on your website