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Uploading the media
The options and formats!
Stayaround gives you the opportunity to upload your music in various formats, first of all:
A full length MP3
This is the full length song, in MP3 format; it’s the file that will be downloaded to people’s computers that they can listen to. Therefore you will need to provide a good quality MP3.
The techy bit:
The minimum bit-rate that we allow people to upload the full length MP3 in is 128kpbs – this is near CD quality, the maximum is 320kpbs. Generally the higher the better, but after 192kpbs it becomes hard to tell the difference by listening to the music, therefore we recommend 192kbps. The maximum file size of the upload we allow is 20MB, this very large for an MP3 music file, and provides you with plenty of room for those extra long mixes! The following table shows the file sizes to expect for an MP3 with different bit rates.
4 minutes of music:
| Bitrate | Filesize |
| 128kbps | 3.66MB |
| 192kpbs | 5.50MB |
| 256kpbs | 7.31MB |
| 320kbps | 9.16MB |
| CD | 35MB |
The MP3 preview
This is the file that will be used for people to preview your song on the site; the track length is limited to 30 seconds. As it is the preview of your song, it makes sense to pick a part of the song that is regarded as one of the best bits, in most cases this is probably the chorus and a verse, but it is entirely up to you, but remember, a good preview will be one of the most important things in encouraging people to buy and download your music.
The techy bit:
The maximum file size you can upload for your preview is 500kb. This allows for up to 128kbps encoding, you shouldn’t go above this otherwise you won’t be able to get the full 30 seconds of preview music. We also recommend not going below 64kbps encoding. The figures:
30 seconds of music:
| Bitrate | Filesize |
| 64kbps | 235KB (or just under 0.25MB) |
| 128kbps | 470KB (or just under 0.50MB) |
Now you have to make a trade off… you can either:
Go with 64kbps encoding, your preview will download quickly for users (around 5 seconds on a standard broadband line), music quality will be ok, or
Go with 128kbps encoding, your preview will download will take twice as long (around 10 seconds on a standard broadband line, but will be better quality.
We suggest you make 64kbps and 128kbps encodings of your preview clip, and listen to them, you can then decide if you don’t mind your preview at a lesser quality but faster download, or higher quality but slower download. You can always upload it to stayaround at one quality, see how it performs on the site, and if you don’t like it, change to the other option by deleting your track and re-uploading it.
For help with making MP3's check the CD to MP3 Tutorial or the Any Format to MP3 Tutorial
Ringtones
You have the option to convert any of your songs into ringtones, which become available for people to purchase. Your ringtone will be professionally made, in all the formats necessary for any one to have; no matter what phone. The formats include; Realtones(mp3, wav, amr) or Polyphonic(mid, mmf, mp3).
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