In the past, music of popular and favorite artists could only be owned through the purchase of a CD from local stores or downloaded from music sites online by paying fees. For about ten dollars, you could get a copy with 16 – 18 cuts. For those who purchased this once in a while, it was not a big expense. But for the music fanatic who wanted to listen to each and every song of his favorite artist or for whom music listening is a breathing affair, all one could do is wait till the local radio stations played their songs. People with computer and internet connection had the option of listening to free online music sites, if and when their song was played.

But the current scenario has changed a lot, thanks to the shareware programs. This enables you to get your favored songs from others without paying for it. The program also helps you download and store the music onto your hard drive and transfer it to MP3 players or CDs.

Archiving music on CDs is one of the favorite hobbies for many people. These CDs can then be played in the vehicle or on a CD player at home or on any home theater systems. To store music on CD at home using the computer, the basic periphery needed would be a CD burner, which is quite similar to a CD player in looks.

There are two types of CD burners, the independent one and the attached one. As the name suggests, the independent burners need not be assembled onto the computer permanently. It can be connected to the computer using a USB port as it has its own power source. The attached kind of CD burner is fixed to the CPU of your PC and cannot be dismantled easily. It is not portable. Working on the concept of cassette players and cassette recorders, the burner can copy files from one CD to other CD or from the hard drive to a blank CD.

However, having the CD burner does not suffice, as you would need relevant software to help you burn the CD. Most of the software is freely downloadable from the internet and some come along with the CD burner too. CD burning software that can be purchased comes with more features, capabilities and flexibility.

The burning process is not limited to music files or audio files only, documents, programs, videos, games, MP3s, WAV and WMA files too can be copied or burned. Since the CD capacity is limited, the current trend is to copy numerous files on a DVD. Only certain files from an already existing DVD can also be burned onto the CDs. This is particularly when you want to share certain movies or files with your friends or colleagues.

The authenticity of using a CD burner by every individual is questionable considering the fact that this could give rise to unauthorized copywriting. But thanks to the CD burner, production technology is now well within the reach of common man.