Free MP3 Players - The Indepth Guide

To start with I think it's only fair to say this article, indeed this site as a whole, only represents my own personal opinions.

Ask 10 people for their opinions on any of the topics covered at this site and you're likely to get 10 different answers.

Everyone is different - and I don't claim to be anything of an expert.

I haven't tried every one of the free mp3 players available - I probably haven't tried out 10% of those available.

No doubt there are individuals who can chart every step in the history of free mp3 players. Some will notice mistakes or disagree with my opinions.

However, you can be assured of my best intentions, and my honest opinions at all times.

Simply put, the way I use music download sites and free mp3 players is the best, most cost effective and time effective method I have found over many, many months of trial and error, experimentation and real-world experience.

You are free to act on my views, or dismiss them out of hand.

It really is up to you.

I view free mp3 players like I do web browsers.

There are tons of options available to you - the end user - but ask the majority of people which of the free mp3 players they use and you're likely to get one of two answers.

Like the free web browsers, where 90% of users will have either Internet Explorer or Netscape installed on their PC, the best of the mp3 players comes down to two main choices.

They are Winamp and Sonique.

In terms of facilities and usage I have found them to both be very similar.

Both will play both audio CDs and mp3s.

Both are free.

Both have hundreds, indeed thousands, of downloadable skins. That is to say, you can make these free mp3 players look different on your desktop by downloading "skins" which fit over the basic technological aspects and hence make the appearance of the software different. Indeed, Winamp claims to have almost 20,000 different skins available to you free. That's a lot of choice! And you can bet one suits your style.

Both sites are full of information, funky in design and very amusing in places (Winamp more so - just check it out - I had a good laugh looking around the first time).

Worth mention are that Winamp, started by a guy called Justin Frankel, has links on it's site to free mp3s you can download as a start so whichever you choose, this is a good place to visit, though like most/all legal free music download sites, the choices are severely limited.

Winamp also works on Windows 98 and above, whilst the Sonique free mp3 player will work on computers old enough to be running Windows 95, so long as your CPU is up to the job.

To give the other side of the story, Sonique benefits from links to a catalogue of free music you can benefit from when you download the player.

The only other real difference I've found is that Winamp is run by a bunch of software developers for fun as much as anything. They keep developing the software and support for their own enjoyment. Sonique is a division of Lycos and may, or may not, start to offer "paid for" versions in the near future.

Other than that, the decision really is yours.

If forced at gunpoint to make a decision I'd probably choose Sonique just over Winamp, primarily because of the greater selection of free music available to users. However, it is necessary to register your details on the site to use the mp3 player to the best of it's capabilities, whilst Winamp requires no such intrusive practices.

Once more then, my friends, here are the links to Winamp and Sonique. Have fun surfing, and get one of the two downloaded as soon as possible, because you're going to have a lot of fun with either one!

Don't forget to get a free 14 day trial of my favourite of the music download sites and you can snatch up 50 free mp3s while you're there to play on whichever of the free mp3 players to decide on in the end.

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