It`s like shortwave radio!

The Web is a notoriously low-quality place when it comes to multimedia content. While voice over the Internet is, in some cases, no longer a pipe dream (depending on how good your ISP`s international incoming bandwidth is), streaming multimedia content is a drag. Why? Well, primarily, it`s bandwidth-related which, especially in South Africa, contributes to the quality of "reception" (for want of a better word).

As with shortwave radio, there`s loads of content that can be accessed on the Web that South Africans don`t usually receive.

But the poor quality of streaming audio (video is even scarier, for obvious reasons) also relates to several other, more cultural or intellectual reasons. First of all, if nobody sends higher-quality files, you can`t receive them. Audio and video over the Net (RealAudio or any of its competitors) are stored and transmitted in poor quality as a result of the insufficient bandwidth available to most users. Here, content and transmission mechanisms are intimately related. An instance of content and form as one and the same? Probably not, but the assumed bad transmission speeds cause the poor quality of the content stream.

The other possible reason I came across somewhere the other day (I`d acknowledge the source if I could remember where I saw it) explaining the poor quality of multimedia content on the Web is that people actually enjoy the shortwave-like quality of the transmissions. Sound weird? I thought so too, but then I got thinking... as a kid, I had a shortwave radio and remember spending a formative two years or so as a serious radio nut. Apart from giving me access to content I would never have come across without it, the radio also kindled my interest in learning different languages. It was a special feeling when I could follow my first news bulletin in French.

Perhaps some of that spirit is rekindled in the poor-quality streaming Internet radio transmissions. As with shortwave radio, there`s loads of content that can be accessed on the Web that South Africans don`t usually receive. So in a sense, this column is about rediscovering the spirit of shortwave radio (I feel I`ve lamented the technical drawbacks of RealAudio enough).

You know Howard Stern? The guy with the controversial North American radio talk show which constantly has to invoke the first amendment... he`s syndicated North America wide, but you can`t even get him on shortwave in South Africa. It`s a special kind of humour I suppose, and not necessarily one of America`s more popular cultural exports, but sometimes it`s fun listening to him. It`s possible on the Net: go to http://www.broadcast.com and find a station that carries Stern.

Sure, the quality is sort of dicky, but then again, it`s the thrill of listening to something that`s being taken off the air all over North America.

In fact, there are lots of radio stations the world over that Webcast their sounds. In South Africa, it`s becoming more prevalent. Stations like 5FM have live Webcasts (though the point escapes one somewhat, given that you can just turn on the radio...), and other stations are either working on their own Webification schemes or already have offerings in place.

As with so many things, the SABC (http://www.sabc.co.za) appears to be falling behind with its experiments, and it speaks volumes that 5FM`s site ( http://www.5fm.co.za ) is maintained mostly outside the public broadcaster`s realm. Q-Radio (http://www.qradio.net), an SABC joint venture with a North American company to provide live streamed content, is off to a slow start and doesn`t look like it`s going to become the powerhouse Web broadcaster it was initially touted as.

One of the most amazing phenomena in Internet live broadcasting has been the meteoric ascent of back-end sound sample networks. Ever been to CDNow (http://www.cdnow.com) or the new music section of Amazon.com(http://www.amazon.com)? Practically every CD on offer can be pre-listened. The literally thousands of shortened tracks are kept and served by companies that provide such services exclusively. The hardware and expertise required out-strips the capabilities of content or shopfront providers, and this seems like a good arrangement.

As a back-end provider, "Muzak" billed as an audio infrastructure provider at (http://www.muzak.com) remain largely invisible. We think of service providers, content providers or shopfront providers, but never consider that it`s possible to make money providing infrastructure services that don`t fall into any of those categories. Plumbing can simply relate to providing a solid service.

Of course, when it comes to entertainment, music is high on most people`s lists, and that`s reflected on the Web. An impressive resource is the Ultimate Bandlist (http://www.ubl.com), a collaborative project that grew from home-grown to commercial in under two years. While not necessarily a huge profit-spinner, the database contains information about any popular artist imaginable, and then some. Tracking down the "Cherry Poppin` Daddies" is as easy as accessing a list of Web sites about Pink Floyd. Any types of music-related material is reflected, from guitar tabs to song lyrics.

Also recommended are: Rolling Stone magazine online (http://www.rollingstone.com) and the Rough Guide to Rock (http://www.roughguides.com/rock/index.html), containing a full complement of encyclopedic entries about one`s favourite artists.

What holds many private content providers back in terms of music sites is what we`ll call the "copyright problem". As the rights to most recorded music are owned by record companies - most of which are quite particular about how you may or may not reproduce their material - simply using the record function on your Windows CD player to create a WAV or RealAudio file isn`t condoned. I sometimes wonder what the big deal is - the technology for copying much higher-grade sound is commercially available to anyone willing to fork over the R2 000 or so for a CD-R drive, and presto: CD-to-CD copies are readily available. Recording a bit of music from a CD to post it on a Web site in shocking sound quality surely isn`t that bad?

Maybe it`s the allure of that AM sound quality... people really seem to like listening to bad quality audio from the Web. I think it has something to do with our childhood.

Apologies for not posting a brand new column for two weeks - I have been snowed under at my desk and even the most talkative columnist needs a short break once in a while.