Media

Downloading, streaming, or encoding music and movies.

Can I play Pandora in my business?

Pandora

Episode 1609

Ted from Whitter, California

Ted has a business and plays a pandora in the background. Is he breaking the law? Leo says that technically, you need a license fee to play music in your business. ASCAP/BMI has secret shoppers that go around looking for this kind of thing and then sends businesses letters letting them know you're in violation and have to buy a license. Google ASCAP BMI, you'll find a page on what to do in order to play music. The fee is about $250 a year. There is a service called MUZAK that does just that. They handle all that, but you pay for the service. Also, check out SoundTrackYourBrand.com.

Can I Rip DVDs to Put on My Tablet?

VLC

Episode 1606

Eric from Orange, CA

Eric is travelling with his kids and wants to know if he can download movies to his tablet or laptop for them to watch. Is that legal? Leo says that it is, and many streaming services will let him download content for watching offline. Can he rip the DVDs? Leo says he can. It's pretty easy to do. To do that he will need two programs: Handbrake and VLC Media Client. They work in concert to rip the DVD and put it into a single file to upload to the device. 

Should I Record to My SSD?

Mac Mini

Episode 1604

Rich from Tuscon, AZ

Rich is an audiobook narrator, and he records huge files on his Mac Mini. Should he record to an external hard drive, rather than the internal drive? Leo says that is just silly.  The SSD has wear levelling that keeps it in a safe condition and the reliability isn't an issue. They also have error correction built in. So it will be just as fine to record to the internal drive than an external drive. Thunderbolt 3 is also just as fast as the internal drive, so either one will work. And professional grade professional software will ensure no errors happen.

What's a Fast Way to Digitize Physical Photos?

Epson FastFoto FF-680W

Episode 1603

Nate from Tustin, CA

Nate is looking for a fast way to digitize his Mom's physical photos. Leo says that you can go to a service bureau like Scancafe where you can ship them your photos in a box that they send you, and they will send you back CD's of your digitized photos. However, since Nate has tons of photos to be digitized, Leo recommends buying a scanner and doing it himself. Leo recommends the brand, Epson, on scanning your photos because they have a type of scanners called FastFoto that has a feed that is great for scanning photos quickly.

How can I burn Blu-ray DVDs?

Blu-Ray Disc

Episode 1596

Howard from Mission Viejo, CA

Howard has a computer with a Blu-Ray burner, but he doesn't have software to use it. What apps are available? Leo says that NERO was the gold standard for burning DVDs for years, but they may not do Blu-ray. Leo says that Premiere Elements 2018 and later can burn to Blu-Ray directly. So you don't really need a third party app. Leo also likes ROXIO. But you may end up with a special driver that can cause compatibility issues. Stick with Adobe Premiere Elements. Leo also likes FoxIt. 

Is There an Alternative to Texture for Digital Magazines?

Texture

Episode 1595

Johnny from Atlanta, GA

Johnny hears that Texture is going away. What is an alternative for reading digital magazines? Leo says that Texture was bought by Apple, and they're shutting it down this week. But you can get Apple's NEWS Plus for the same price, same magazines, and pretty much the same interface. Leo tried it and then canceled after a few days because it's sandboxed inside the Apple ecosystem. There's no Android option, unfortunately. 

How can I backup my music from my phone to my computer?

iPhone

Episode 1593

Clyde from San Diego, California

Clyde ripped all his CDs and has the music on his phone, but he doesn't have any backups anymore. How can he back them up from his phone? Leo says that if you backup your mobile phone, your phone backs it up. But Leo wants Clyde to also make a separate, accessible copy of the music from his phone. Connect your phone back to your computer and then let iTunes back it up and add those phones to the iTunes library.  Here's how. There's a third party program called Senuti that can also work. 

Why do podcasts quit after 20 minutes?

Podcast

Episode 1593

Len from San Diego, CA

Len listens to his podcasts through Amazon Echo. Leo says that Echo and other home assistants are a boon for podcasters and streaming radio from all over the world. He says the problem though is that it'll completely play live, but if he listens to it pre-recorded, he only gets about 20 minutes. Leo says it all comes down to advertising. If you're listening to a podcast in Cleveland, but you're in San Diego, ads are no benefit to you or the advertiser. And they probably don't pay to have an ad on the download. It's all about economics. Podcasts are like magazines.