I have made several runs at trying to setup online audio download sites and now I’m finally getting it going. It’s a little easier now than four years ago when I first wanted to do it.
But the problem I always come up to is how to protect the audio.
THE SPOILER: I have come to the conclusion that you have to overdub the sample audio with overdubs for theft protection, and I’ll explain why as we go through options here.
I’m writing this article so others have the info to reference to. I found very little when looking online. If any info is incorrect or you have more info to add, please leave a comment on this post with the info.
OPTIONS FOR PROTECTING AUDIO
- Play lower quality fidelity for samples
- Encode audio into a flash player
- Pull audio into database and call via PHP
- Use Real Audio to pull seperate play files
- Use Quicktime so basic users can’t see source
- Overdub audio onto samples, making the sample unuseable
1) Play lower quality fidelity for samples – This works for some applications. I know SoundDogs does this for their sound effects. Overdubs won’t work for their foley fx because the samples are so short. I have used SoundDogs a lot and think their setup is great for sound effects, but I don’t think it’s the best solution for music tracks. If you play lo fidelity clips for customers, what if your final product does not match their expectations? If you play for them what they’re going to get then you will have fewer customer complaints and/or chargebacks. Audio downloads have a high incidence of chargebacks, so showing customers exactly what they’ll be getting is a first line defense for that.
2) Encode audio into a flash player – I have spent SO many hours working with this. At one point even downloaded the Wimpy flash player. I see a LOT of sites using a flash player to hide their audio source. The problem is, you can see where the file is being pulled up from if you view the source code. If your answer to that is “Well, how many people know how to view the source code?” I think more than you think. Viewing source code is easy. I would guess the largest group of people that would want to snatch audio are younger people, and they are saavy with computers – and everyone has a friend who’s a computer geek. Viewing source code isn’t even approaching a geek thing anymore, it’s just something people know about – like popping the hood on their car. So a big NO for using a flash player as the source code will show your audio location.
3) Pull audio into database and call via PHP – This is a nice option, and I’ve seen source code of many sites doing this. For me, it’s a little out of my league to setup – so it’s not an option. Also, I’m afraid that someday my database will crash and I won’t be able to retrieve the audio. If someone reading this has an approach that normal folks can use to implement this, please let us know about it.
4) Use Real Audio to pull seperate play files – In the old days Real Audio and MP3 were going head to head. I put my money on Real Audio, thinking they would win the audio wars. I was wrong. People still have problems playing some Real Audio files, and it’s very time consuming to make the seperate .ra and .ram files needed to pull it off. Frankly, it’s a real headache in my opinion. If you have hundreds of audio files to protect, then you have hundres of .ra and .ram files to make. And then I guarantee you will get emails that some people can’t play it, so you need MP3 options too. If you have MP3, why have Real Audio too?
5) Use Quicktime so basic users can’t see source – The Pro version DOES allow viewing the source. The Pro version is not very expensive, so I imagine a lot of people have it. I don’t think this is a wise option.
6) Overdub audio onto samples, making the sample unuseable – This is my suggestion. Users can hear the actual fidelity of your sound file, and you have a seperate public audio sample you can make accessible to the public while keeping your actual clean downloads secure and protected. You can record your own overdubs, or go to a local recording studio and get it done for not much. Chances are if you have online audio samples, you probably already have the gear for audio overdubs.
Here is a sample of an audio file protected with overdubs:
MP3 Hip Hop Instrumental with Overdub Theft Protection
Notice the overdub vocal has been limited to a small audio frequency range so it doesn’t interfere to much with the listening experience of the track as a whole. I find it very easy to tune out the overdub while listening to the track. In addition, the overdub also contains information useful for customers listening.
For fast easy overdub mixing see my article on the Acoustica MP3 Mixer
I vote for overdubbing to provide audio protection to music samples. Have more info? Please leave a comment.