AAC
Advanced Audio Coding. Developed for high quality music track encoding. All Apple iPods use this format.

Bitrate
The amount of data used to store an audio file is known as the bitrate and is expressed in kilobits per second(kps) This is important because the bitrate for speech is less (32kps) than the bitrate for good quality pop music (128kps). This means high quality music files will have a higher bitrate and thus take up more space on your MP3 player.

Burning
The process of copying music that is stored on your PC on to a compact disc, so that it can be played in CD players and other devices that can play a CD. If for example you want to listen to music in your car or on your home stereo, burning takes the digital music track stored on your PC, converts it into the format that CD players require, and copies it onto a CD. To copy music to a CD, you will need software that converts the music files and "burns" them onto the CD. To do this, you can either use the burning tools within Microsoft's Windows Media Player, or use other burning software that is often provided with your PC.

Card Slot
Expand the memory of your player and store more music tracks with a memory card in the slot.

Codec
A Codec is a digital format that music is stored in. Both WMA and MP3 are Codecs, which allow the file to be compressed so that it requires less memory for storage but still maintains sound quality.

Digital Music File
A digital music file that when played, allows you to hear music on your computer. There are quite a few types of different digital music file formats. AAC, MP3, WAV, Real Audio and WMA being the most popular.

Digital Music Player
A digital music player is the installed software program on a computer that allows encoded music to be played, through either speakers or headphones. iTunes,Windows Media and MusicMatch are examples of these players.

Digital Rights Management (DRM)
DRM helps to protect the copyright of material by defining how the content can be used. The music file is encrypted before it is distributed to you. The first time that you listen to the track on your PC (in Windows Media Player), the software accesses this Download Site automatically and downloads a licence that enables you to store and use the file legally on your PC. Once you have acquired this licence you do not have to get this license again, as it stored on your PC for future reference when needed.

Download Audio (Downloads)
Music transmitted over the Internet and stored (copied) to the hard disk of your PC. Once the music is stored on your PC it can then be played as often as you want from the PC, or alternatively you can burn your music to a CD or copy it to another PC or Portable Music Player.

Encoding Rate
This is the rate at which the original music file is sampled, in order to create the digital music file. Music files with a higher sampling rate have the best sound quality. Sampling rates on digital music sites generally vary from 64Kbit/s to 192Kbit/s. Wherever possible music on this site is sampled at 192Kbits/s, which ensures excellent sound quality (the human ear cannot distinguish the difference between music at 192Kbit/s and music sampled at higher rates).

EQ Equaliser
An equaliser on an MP3 player means you can adjust and change the way music sounds. Some MP3 players have Rock, Classical and Jazz equaliser settings, that either enhance the bass or treble or both.

FireWire
A fast type of connection lead, also called iLink and IEEE 1394.

Flash Memory
Storage for data involving no moving parts.

Hard Disk
A storage device that has moving parts to access and save your data. This type of storage can come in very large capacities, but is susceptible to movement.

iTunes
Apple Computers software package for the cataloguing and playing of all your audio tracks.

Legal Music
Official websites selling download files have agreements in place with all of the record labels and other copyright holders. In comparison, music downloaded from P2P Networks, especially music from well-known artists, is nearly always subject to copyright restrictions, which do not allow the files to be shared on P2P (Peer To Peer) Networks, and as such downloading copyrighted music from these sites is illegal.

Licence
To ensure that digital downloads are legal, a Licence is provided for each and every track that you download from this site. This is technically a "key" that unlocks the encrypted music file and allows you to play the music. Just like a key which only works in one lock, this Licence will only work on your PC and with the music files for which it was provided.

Memory Stick
A type of memory card developed by Sony, reminiscent of a stick of chewing gum! Also available in high capacity PRO and DUO Formats.

MP3
An encoded music track format for playing on an MP3 Player.

MPG4
A multi-layered format for audio and/or video.

P2P
Peer-to-Peer Networks are websites that allow users to share content with one another. Examples of peer-to-peer networks are sites such as Kazaa and Morpheus. Although peer-to-peer networks are not illegal in their own right, the distribution and sharing (or downloading) of copyrighted files is itself generally illegal.

Playsforsure
PlaysForSure logo on a device means it is totally compatible with Windows Media.

Portable Music Player
A device specifically designed to play digital music on the go. They are modern day versions of a 'Walkman' or 'Discman'. The major difference with Portable Music Players is that they store music on a hard drive or within an internal memory, rather than on CDs or cassettes. Music is transferred to a Portable Music Player directly from your PC, and most modern players support the WMA music format . They offer the advantage that they can store a huge amount of music, which can be quickly and easily transferred to the player.

Rip
To Rip (convert) a CD audio track into another format (MP3, AAC, WMA or similar) for playing on an MP3 player.

Streamed Audio (Streaming)
Music played directly to the user from an Internet website. The song is not transferred to or stored locally on your PC, but is transferred and played directly from the site every time you want to listen to it. Most Internet radio stations deliver their music in this way. When you sample a track on our website the music is Streamed to your PC.

SD
Secure Digital, a postage stamp sized memory card back to top USB Universal Serial Bus. This is the most common connection used on MP3 players, USB2 being the latest faster version.

WMA
Windows Media Audio: Audio track encoding developed by Microsoft.

Windows Media Player
Windows Media Player is a free piece of software that is normally included as part of the suite of software programmes provided when you bought your PC. If you do not have Windows Media Player it is available for download from Microsoft's website at www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/.