Why can't I upload in MP3?

[Skullbuster 1,906]

i want to upload my song however the uploader doesn't accept MP3 why not?

and can that be fixed?

[letterone 1,203]

My guess is that MP3 isn't the highest quality of audio files. Just convert it to WAV or FLAC dude. They're far higher quality than MP3 anyways.

[Arcium_Fox 184]

i want to upload my song however the uploader doesn't accept MP3 why not?

and can that be fixed?

Try to upload it to soundcloud

 

I don't really think that you are allowed to upload mp3 to this forum

 

Good luck uploading your song 

[Twilight Sparkle ✨ 8,520]

i want to upload my song however the uploader doesn't accept MP3 why not?

and can that be fixed?

 

 

This is intentional, and "working as intended".

 

MP3 uploads are not supported because MP3 is a so-called "lossy" format. This means that its compression is imperfect, resulting in a file that is missing aural information that was present in the original audio. Formats like FLAC, WAV, and AIFF are "lossless", meaning that they sound bit-for-bit identical to the original music you created.

 

It may look like a bit of a pain, but any decent DAW will allow you to export your work in a lossless format. Just go back to your source file, export a WAV file, and upload that to Pony.fm.

 

For a more in-depth explanation, check out what Bandcamp has to say about MP3's: http://bandcamp.com/faq#aiffwavuploadrequirement

 

Pony.fm will automatically create an MP3 download from the lossless file you upload.

 

My guess is that MP3 isn't the highest quality of audio files. Just convert it to WAV or FLAC dude. They're far higher quality than MP3 anyways.

 

No, do not convert an MP3 to any other format to upload it to Pony.fm. Doing so will not increase the audio quality, and only defeats the purpose of the lossless audio requirement in the first place. It's easy for me to add MP3 upload support, but it goes against the purpose of Pony.fm to support it.

 

Just re-export your music in one of Pony.fm's supported formats and upload that.

[Arkane 269]

My problem with this is that the file size is too big when its converted to FLAC, AIFF or WAV

 

But other than that, I have no problems with it.

[Marcato 2,143]

My problem with this is that the file size is too big when its converted to FLAC, AIFF or WAV

 

But other than that, I have no problems with it.

Actually, I always export to FLAC, because it's actually about half the file size that a WAV is, and it still gives you near equal quality to a WAV. People with sensitive ears can hear a difference, but it's very hard to notice. 

 

In the end what I'm saying is FLAC would be a much better choice of action if you're looking not to take up a whole ton of space. Frankly though, if you're a music producer than file size shouldn't matter unless your hard drive is nearly full. If that's the case buy a decent sized USB disk and dedicate it to all your music. I recommend getting one that's REALLY fast. Something with USB 3.0 compatibility.

 

Oh there I go ranting about technology again.

[ReGen 1,466]

Here's the problem I have with this is: My songs I want to upload are in .mp3 and I don't have the original .sng files (Thought I wouldn't need them anymore). What should I do?

[Twilight Sparkle ✨ 8,520]

My problem with this is that the file size is too big when its converted to FLAC, AIFF or WAV

 

But other than that, I have no problems with it.

 

 

You can always delete the lossless file after you're done uploading it to Pony.fm. Once the upload is complete, Pony.fm will store its own copy of it that you don't need to worry about.

 

 

Here's the problem I have with this is: My songs I want to upload are in .mp3 and I don't have the original .sng files (Thought I wouldn't need them anymore). What should I do?

 

Ow... that's a toughie. As a rule of thumb, you should never throw out your source files for anything you create, because you never know when you might need them again.

 

Your only real option to get your music onto Pony.fm is to convert it to one of the supported formats and upload that. I strongly, strongly discourage doing this if at all possible, but I can't see you getting your music onto Pony.fm in any other way.

[ReGen 1,466]

Ow... that's a toughie. As a rule of thumb, you should never throw out your source files for anything you create, because you never know when you might need them again.

 

Your only real option to get your music onto Pony.fm is to convert it to one of the supported formats and upload that. I strongly, strongly discourage doing this if at all possible, but I can't see you getting your music onto Pony.fm in any other way.

Alright, thanks. Although to be quite honest, an .mp3 at 320 kbps sounds the same as a .wav file. At least to me.

I don't really notice the "losslessness" between the two. But then again, I never analyze the difference. 

[PhonyBrony 275]

If Pony.FM is going to convert the song to mp3 and stream it using an mp3 data stream anyways, why is there an issue with uploading a song thats already in mp3 format?

 

 

the Phony Brony

[Twilight Sparkle ✨ 8,520]

If Pony.FM is going to convert the song to mp3 and stream it using an mp3 data stream anyways, why is there an issue with uploading a song thats already in mp3 format?

 

 

the Phony Brony

 

Pony.fm does not provide only MP3's; it also provides OGG's and lossless FLAC's. Uploading a lossless file puts a "perfect" copy of your track in Pony.fm's file store, which can be offered up for download on its own for audiophiles who like CD or better-than-CD sound quality, but starting from a lossless original also allows Pony.fm to transcode a song to other lossy formats with only one degree of loss.

 

To illustrate this, if you uploaded an MP3:

• Some quality was lost from the original merely to create the MP3 in the first place. Pony.fm stores the MP3 in whatever quality it began with (it may not necessarily be the minimum compression of 320 Kbps; lower bitrates are very common and can sound significantly worse).
• Pony.fm uses the MP3, which is already of a lower quality, to create an OGG Vorbis file. OGG Vorbis is not a lossless format, either, so the OGG Vorbis file will be inferior to the MP3 it was created from.

On the other hand, a lossless upload contains no compression artifacts whatsoever. It's the audio equivalent of a zip file - the data inside does not get damaged when it is encapsulated in a zip file, and one can use the zip file to reproduce the original data bit-for-bit. Likewise, a WAV, FLAC, or AIFF will produce a bit-for-bit replica of the song's original waveform.

 

This means:

• Pony.fm accepts a lossless upload, which is converted to FLAC (if it isn't already FLAC) for storage. This leaves a "perfect," unblemished copy of the track in Pony.fm's file store.
• An MP3 file can be created from the FLAC. Minimal quality is lost because creating an MP3 from the FLAC is as good as creating an MP3 directly from your DAW.
• An OGG Vorbis file can be created from the FLAC. Minimal quality is lost because Pony.fm has a lossless copy of the track on file; thus, we don't have the "recompressing a compressed MP3" issue that is present if Pony.fm's "master file" was an MP3.

Essentially, requiring that Pony.fm has a lossless copy of each track on file gives me a lot more flexibility to provide a consistent experience for users (for example, every single MP3 from Pony.fm is encoded at 320 Kbps CBR, which sounds pretty nice) and maximizes the aural quality of every download by never requiring more than one degree of lossy compression to create any of them.

 

(if this confused you, please let me know; it's going to end up in an FAQ entry at one point or another, so I need to know if it makes sense or needs to be in plainer English)

---

 

Is anyone (other than Supernova) in a particular circumstance where uploading a lossless version of their music is actually an issue, or is the main issue that you only have MP3 copies handy and don't really want to re-render/re-export your music in WAV or something?

[Arkane 269]

Actually, I always export to FLAC, because it's actually about half the file size that a WAV is, and it still gives you near equal quality to a WAV. People with sensitive ears can hear a difference, but it's very hard to notice. 

 

In the end what I'm saying is FLAC would be a much better choice of action if you're looking not to take up a whole ton of space. Frankly though, if you're a music producer than file size shouldn't matter unless your hard drive is nearly full. If that's the case buy a decent sized USB disk and dedicate it to all your music. I recommend getting one that's REALLY fast. Something with USB 3.0 compatibility.

 

Oh there I go ranting about technology again.

 

The problem in my case is not how big my Hard Drive can store. Its the upload. Internet here is slow. REALLY slow. Not to mention the upload/download size cap that come's with it. Uploading a 5 minute song that's around 60mb would take hours here. And given that we have a 100gb upload/download cap that makes the internet worse than dial up once either upload or download reaches the cap only makes things worse. Making an upload near-impossible to upload huge files over here.

 

(Yes, 60mb is already huge here.)

Edited December 19, 2012 by Arkane

[Marcato 2,143]

The problem in my case is not how big my Hard Drive can store. Its the upload. Internet here is slow. REALLY slow. Not to mention the upload/download size cap that come's with it. Uploading a 5 minute song that's around 60mb would take hours here. And given that we have a 100gb upload/download cap that makes the internet worse than dial up once either upload or download reaches the cap only makes things worse. Making an upload near-impossible to upload huge files over here.

 

(Yes, 60mb is already huge here.)

I can understand that. In the end though if your file will take a long time to upload you just leave it running.

 

If you have 100GB of upload/download cap (I assume that's bandwidth,) then unless you or someone is downloading-uploading massive files you shouldn't fear to much.

 

Also; five minute song is ~60MB? This is a Wav right? I uploaded a near 6 minute song as a FLAC and it was just under ~40MB.

One thing you could do, is download Audacity. Audacity can convert WAV to FLAC by exporting the file. It's what i do often with my songs.

 

Either way though, MP3 uploads wouldn't exactly be ideal considering loss of quality. I know soundcloud allows you to upload MP3's, but you lose a significant amount of quality then. (Done it before, didn't turn out too well.)

[Twilight Sparkle ✨ 8,520]

The problem in my case is not how big my Hard Drive can store. Its the upload. Internet here is slow. REALLY slow. Not to mention the upload/download size cap that come's with it. Uploading a 5 minute song that's around 60mb would take hours here. And given that we have a 100gb upload/download cap that makes the internet worse than dial up once either upload or download reaches the cap only makes things worse. Making an upload near-impossible to upload huge files over here.

 

(Yes, 60mb is already huge here.)

 

You only have to upload a lossless file once, and Pony.fm supports batch uploads, so you can leave uploads to run overnight if you have to. I understand the concern with the data cap, but... really, I think the advantages of having a lossless version of the song on Pony.fm far outweigh the disadvantages. Again, you only have to upload it once, unless you are uploading a "fixed" copy of a track.

 

As suggested, compressing to FLAC can significantly reduce your file size without any loss in quality (it's also a way to fit a longer song into the 100 MB limit ). In my experience, a FLAC is about one third to half the size of the equivalent uncompressed file.

[Wolfy 20]

It's actually the fact that we're only allowed lossless files types that this pony.fm thing appeals to me so much. When I first heard of it I instantly thought of it being like a pony-specific bandcamp, which is like a dream come true. This way anyone can download it however they want it without worrying how your listeners will want your work. If we just all uploaded MP3, then everyone would have to have MP3 no matter what (and I'm sure some people would probably upload less than 320kbps versions as well).