Xing Technology, one of two companies that produce MP3 technology, has announced the beta release of its Mac-compatible Audio Catalyst Encoder Tool.
"It's about time that Mac users, who tend to be creative types, have access to this kind of technology," said Xing president and CEO Hassan Miah. "We thought the Mac market was underserved."
Beta Lounge producer Ian Raikow agreed.
"From what I've seen, there is a bias of sorts among people who produce music towards using a Mac," Raikow said. "Anything that lessens the distance between the music maker and the music consumer, like MP3 technology, is a good thing."
MP3 technology compresses music files at near-CD quality. The files can then be transmitted over the Internet. Until now, commercial MP3 products have largely ignored Mac users. What took so long?
"It took this long because, until recently, the perception was that Mac was a dying platform," said Xing's Eric Aldrich, project coordinator for the Mac-compatible technology.
"We want to turn the Mac into a complete home-entertainment system," said Miah.
The product -- officially scheduled for release in mid-January -- also encodes line-in audio sources, or audio through a microphone.
The music industry maintains that MP3 technology encourages piracy. The Recording Industry Association of America recently launched a campaign to develop a new specification for selling and distributing music on the Internet. The project, called the Secure Digital Music Initiative, or SDMI, is designed to thwart the use of MP3 technology.
But it will be some time before such a counter-technology exists, time enough for MP3 to gain a foothold, said Miah.
"The digital age is about empowerment and giving consumers flexibility," said Miah. "The music industry is stuck on an old business model that no longer works. They'll just have to adapt and come up with a new one."
