WordPress has dozens of options available for the user to add audio to their blog. Some are all-inclusive, while others do just one thing. Here are some of the most popular WordPress audio add-ons.
Angsuman's Del.icio.us MP3 Player - Makes any MP3 links playable on your blog, whether it is within an entry or anywhere else. It also allows listeners to easily tag the link on del.icio.us for sharing.
DG PlayingNow - This widget isn't an audio player, but does give a description directly on your blog of what your media player is playing at that time.
EvocaBrowserMic - This cool widget allows visitors to leave voice comments on your posts. Anyone with a microphone will be able to use it without downloading or installing anything. This can be impractical for bloggers who tend to get a lot of comments, as the host’s disk space can be limited.
Tornadostream - This application turns your blog into your own radio station; it allows viewers to choose from a wide range of music from their playlists to host on your blog. Another radio plugin is the WP [radio.wazee] WordPress Plugin, which broadcasts a popular internet alternative rock station.
iTunesSpy - Shares your favorite songs by displaying your recently played iTunes tracks.
XSPF Player - This plugin allows the visitor to embed their MP3 player directly onto your blog.
Audio Player WordPress Plugin – The Audio Player plugin allows you to setup a series of song files to play on your page just like turning on the radio.
PodPress - This plugin may be the most popular way to add audio functionality to your WordPress blog. It’s one of those handy, all-inclusive applications that allows you to generate iTunes feeds, play podcasts, view MP3 ID3 tags, automatically play MP3, MP4, MOV, FLV, ASF, WMV, AVI files and more, and control where the player will display in your post and what it will look like. This is hands down a favorite of many admins.
Adding audio functionality to your Blogger site can also be a simple task with a little help. First, there are two different options; you can embed audio files from a third-party site or you can host your own (podcast).
Imbedding a playlist from a third-party music service is easy.
- Visit your Template | Page Elements tab.
- Create a place for the audio widget by clicking “Add a Page Element”.
- Choose the “HTML/JavaScript” widget.
- Then, enter the HTML code provided by the third-party site into the content window and click “Save Changes”.
A list of some of the popular third-party music sites are:
- Last.fm
- Hypster
- Streampad
- Project Playlist
- FineTune
- MyFlashFetish
For those who want to create their own podcast, such as an internet talk show, you’ll need a place online to store your recordings. Box.net, MoveDigital, DreamHost, and BlueHost are popular choices.
Once your files are uploaded, you’ll need to enable enclosure links to link to the file from within a Blogger post. At the Settings | Formatting tab set the “Show Link Fields” to “Yes”. When composing a post, you’ll see the enclosure link field in the editor. Enter the URLs of your audio files and your blog will morph into a podcast. When viewed with most RSS readers or podcatchers such as Google Reader, iTunes or Bloglines, your recordings will appear as embedded music players.
