Xanga music links are a major part of what make the site so interactive and popular. Xanga started out in 1999 as a review site for music and movies, and while it has since expanded into the realm of blogging, chat, and other social networking trends, Xanga still holds true to its roots. There are thousands of music aficionados sharing and talking about their Xanga music links, and the site makes it easy to add yours, too.
Your Xanga Music Links Tutorial
For the sake of this tutorial, imagine a mashup producer - that is, someone who takes songs by popular artists and remixes them into new songs. The reason this is an important example is due to copyright - while it's true that many people ignore the Xanga terms, it's also true that they apply, and those terms are:
By uploading, you acknowledge that this material:
- Is not copyrighted or you have full rights or have permission from the owner
- Is not legally obscene
- Is rated appropriately
- Does not otherwise violate Xanga's terms of use
You understand that violation of any of the above can result in removal of any infringing content, shutdown of your account, and/or reporting of the violation to the proper authorities.This is a pretty strongly worded warning, so make sure that any audio you upload follows them.
As far as uploading goes, it's a simple three step process. You will need to navigate to the "Audio" portion of your Xanga page and then look under the "Audio Manager" tag on the left. Click on "Upload Audio," and that will get you ready to upload your masterpiece.
- Browse and Choose - This is the simple and standard file browser which you use to go to the directory where the music file is kept. Ideally this is in MP3 format, so that it is not prohibitively large. Files that are hundreds of megabytes in size are probably not appropriate for Xanga. When the file has been chosen, you are ready for step two.
- Add Album, Tags & Set Publishing Options - tags are part of the magic that makes Xanga music links so interactive. Spending some time creating the proper tags can attract people with similar interests with similar music to share, and that is what Xanga is all about.
- Upload - Click this button, and the site will do the rest, uploading the file and creating the first of your Xanga music links.
Entries in the "Add Album" section include:
- Title - Enter the song title.
- Caption - This is a more personal entry, such as "this is a mashup of Gorillaz and Cake that I created." Now fellow fans of these two bands will know why they should listen.
- Tags - These would be any keywords that someone searching Xanga might type in. In this case, "Gorillaz, Cake, Mashup" would all be appropriate tags.
- User Tags - These are additional tags about who is in the audio - you can select yourself and any of your Xanga friends as well.
- Privacy - The first "publishing settings" section is about selecting public, private, or protected. It allows you to decide if everyone, no one, or only certain people can access your audio file.
- Rating - This is important, especially if you've got a public file. The choices range from "all ages allowed" to "explicit content." It is polite to take the time to honestly rate your music.
- Audioblog - This option automatically puts the music as an entry in your audioblog, which is one way that other people can access your Xanga music links.
- Comments - Sometimes you might not want to hear peoples opinions of your work. You can uncheck this box to keep people from being able to add comments.
Audioblog: Sharing with Others
Assuming you checked the "Audioblog" option, the music file will now show up in that section of your Xanga. When others click on it (or when you click on theirs), the file will show, along with a side bar on the right that allows you and others to copy and share the Xanga music links on other web pages. They can choose to simply click "Post to Weblog!" to instantaneously add it to their own Xanga. By making it this easy, Xanga ensures that it can help users share music with just the click of a button.
