Okay, heres how the Oggs work on this weblog.
Firstly, before I launch into this, If you are an artist, and would like me to remove the link to your music file, please get in touch and I will delete it.
An Ogg file (.ogg) is like an mp3 file. It is a compressed audio file, which you can download and listen to on your computer. Some portable media players also support the Ogg format.
The difference between mp3 and Ogg, is that Ogg is Open Source (free for anyone to use and make), and has better quality sound at higher compression rates. In english, that means the download size of the audio file is usually half that of an mp3, and takes less time to download.
To listen to an Ogg file, you need to install a media player on your computer that supports this file type. If you use Windows, you may already be able to, with Windows Media Player (you will need version 10). If you dont have it, save yourself the massive download, and use a small media player called Foobar. It can play pretty much any file type, and wont clog up your system, as its also Open Source (free to use, and modify if you know how).
Foobar Lite (plays mp2, mp3, mp4/aac, ogg, wav/aif, au, musepack, voc & snd audio files). This download is the one I have, is less than 1Mb and works perfectly. Or..
Foobar Normal (plays all above, as well as a few more including Monkeys Audio). This one is a waste of time, coz you may as well get..
Foobar Special - the full program, with support for all sorts of bizarre formats, and Windows Media (WMA) too if you like punishment.
I upload the Ogg files to the zShare server, which is a free website which stores any kind of file for 10 days. You will need to note the posted date of the Ogg file and add 10 days. Now, if you download it 3 days after I post the Ogg, the expiry of this file is extended by 10 days (so in theory, as long as people download it at least once a week, the file can exist there forever).
Also, as a courtesy, I will supply the file type (Ogg), as well as the file size of the download in megabytes (eg: 1.6Mb), as well as the year the song came out. If I feel you really should own the album (which the Ogg came from), I will be inclined to provide a link to a NZ retailer like the awesome team at Real Groovy, for you to go ahead and purchase online.
Thats about it. Its all in the name of fun, as well as some free publicity for the artist, thanks to my personal endoresement. I have no idea how that would help them out. Perhaps they have bizarre backstage requests, and on one occasion, that item will be paid for by my suggestion.
