How to Share Music Over a Network
One of the most frustrating things about the inevitable move to digital music is the difficulty of sharing the music throughout the household. A compact disc, cassette tape and even vinyl album could be played on any stereo, in any room, by anyone. Digital music lives on a person's computer's hard drive. Computers are not nearly as portable as compact discs. But as more homes have more wirelessly connected devices, this problem is becoming less of a concern.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Set up a shared folder over the network on your computer. Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X both include the ability to set certain files and folders as "shared folders." These shared folders are broadcast across the home network and accessible by anyone sharing that same Internet (though you may need a password to access the files). Sharing your music folders is an easy way to maintain one large library of music for the entire household, with each connected computer containing the ability to add and edit the collection.
-
2
Share your library with iTunes or another digital media player. Many modern media players have the ability to connect and stream the libraries of other users on the same network. Add your music to the media player and be sure to turn on "Sharing" in the preferences. Users of other computers in the household will do the same. Whenever both applications are open and connected to the same wireless network, the libraries can be accessed and stream to other computer. Although this setup is extremely simple, if the other computers do not have the application open you will be unable to share and stream the music.
-
-
3
Use music streaming hardware throughout the household. There are a number of companies that have created stereos that can wirelessly connect to and play back your computer's digital music library. You can then purchase additional stereo units that build onto the first one, connecting to them wirelessly. This means you can set up the main stereo in the living room and then add a unit to your home office, another to your kitchen, etc.--easily sharing and streaming the music in various rooms across the network. Sonos, Logitech Squeezebox and Apple AirTunes all provide this functionality.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
These steps are for sharing legally owned music across your home network, not for illegally transferring music files to friends.
References
- Photo Credit guitar guitarist music musical instrument image by david hughes from Fotolia.com
