CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
The world-wide-web has become an important platform for interactive application. Web-
based calendars and forums facilitate collaboration; e-commerce web sites enable the convenient
acquisition of goods and services; and many other applications address simple day-to-day
problems like reserving a room or registering for the participation in an event. Because of the
web’s ubiquity and ease-of-access a web application is of often the first choice of technology.
Tim Berners-Lee designed the web as collaborative tool (Berners-Lee 1996). His early
vision was one of document sharing between researchers. The recognition of the web’s potential
as a platform for interactive application has been an emergent phenomenon. However, the web’s
infrastructure has not changed significantly from being document-centered with the result that
much of it is ill-suited for application development. Currently, the development of an interactive
web application requires knowledge not only of traditional programming language, but also of
technologies and problems specific to the web (e.g., HTML, JavaScript, CSS, HTTP, web-
browser compatibility issues, etc.). As a result, the creation of even a basic web application is
difficult.
Despite the diversity and rapid evolution of web technology, many users carry out some
degree of web-based development. For instance, in 1998, a survey found that over 50% of web
users have published at least one web page (pitkow and kehoe 1998.). Some users build web
pages because they are fascinated by this ubiquitous delivery medium; other have the more
practical goal of efficient information exchange. However, for the most part, the web sites that
end users produce today are static information displays with navigation links providing the only
interactivity. According to the findings of my work these limitations in users’ web development
activities web are due to lack of interest but rather due to the difficulties inherent in web
application development. Today, an end user with a need for an interactive web application must
locate and collaborate with a programmer to pursue his or her goal, and this is always feasible.
The research reported here takes an initial step towards rectifying this situation. I believe web
that given the right tool and techniques even non-programmers can develop simple web
applications.
 The World Wide Web Know as the Web, for short is a network of computers that are able
to exchange text, graphics, and multimedia information via the internet by sitting at a computer
that is attached to the web, using either a dial-up phone line or a much faster broadband
(Ethernet, cable, or DSL connection), one can also visit web-connected computers next door
advantage of the resources these computers make available, include text, videos, graphics,
sounds, and animation. Think of the web as the multimedia version of the Internet, and one will
be right on the mark. To understand the concept of the W.W.W, one needs to consider the
concept of the web as a large collection of documents. In its relatively short life, the web has
grown to host millions of sites and billions of pages. For the moment, think of each of these
pages as a document. Many documents on the web bear a strong similarity to the document one
meets in everyday life, and all documents have a structure, so think for a moment about the
structure of some the document seen in everyday life.
Music is an art fort whose medium is sound. Common element of music is pitch (which
governs melody and harmony), rhythm (and its associated concept of tempo, meter, and
articulation), dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture. The word music derives its
meaning from the Greek word (mousike), meaning “(art) of the Muses.” The creation,
performance, significance, and even the definition of music vary according to culture and social
context. Music can be divided into genres and subgenres, although the dividing lines and
relationships between music genres are often subtle, sometimes open to individual interpretation,
and occasionally controversial. Within “the arts,” music may be classified as performing arts, a
fine art, and auditory art.
To many people in many cultures, music is an important part of their way of like. Greek
philosophers and ancient Indians philosophers defined music as tones ordered horizontally as
melodies and vertically as harmonies. However, 20th-century composer john cage though that
any sound can be music, meaning “There is no noise, only sound”. Musicologist Jean-Jacques
Nattiez summarizes the relativist post-modem viewpoint: “The border between music and noise
is always culturally defined which implies that, even within a single society, this border does not
always pass through the same place; in short, there is rarely a consensus…By all account there is
no single and intercultural universal concept defining what music might be.
With 20th century music, there was a vast increase in music listening as the radio gained
popularity and phonographs were used to replay and distribute music. The focus of art music was
characterized by exploration of new rhythms, styles, and sounds. Igor Stravinsky, Arnold
Schoenberg, and john cage were all influential composers in 20th century art music.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The problems faced by this system are numerous. Some of the problems surrounding the
existing system include:
 Time consuming and Slow: Costumers walk into a shop, gets interviewed by the
receptionist to know what they before they start looking for the song they want.
 Insecurity: The existing system stands a risk of losing the whole shop due to fires or
robbery or the like.
 Organization: The existing system is not organized in a manner that it will be effective.
This is due to the fact that there is no specified time for going round the store to look for
what is needed.
 The proposed system diminishes the effectiveness of the stores since the system is not
organized when information about a particular item is needed or checking its availability;
a lot lengthy and time consuming procedures have to be followed to get the information
required.

1.3 Aims and Objective of the Study

The purpose of this research work is to design, develop and implement an effective web
based music portal using HTML and PHP. This music portal will:
 Contain all necessary information in all songs uploaded including the artist and album
information.
 Allow users to register before they can access information on the portal.
 Allow user to search through the database with ease for any required information using
an interactive interface.
 Provide songs of similar interest based on the user’s search.
 Allow user to upload their own songs.
 Allow user to download songs and wallpapers.
1.4 Scope of the Study
Due to the complexity and function requirement of this research work, it is pertinent to
state that this project will only cover areas that relates to the basic functionality of a web portal
which include; search capabilities, new user registration, user management, new user validation,
sorting of song by the use of performer (artist) name, title, year of release as well as the name of
the track. Therefore, the scope of this research work as stated will be narrowed to the
development of a web portal that will help in the sorting of songs by performer (artist) name,
album title and year of release

1.5 Limitation of the Study

In web-based music portal, anyone interested in buying musical CDs can just sit at the
comfort of wherever they are and download whatsoever songs they wish. The buyer can search
for songs based on the name of the artist, album of the song, or the name of the songs itself. Even
if the user misspells the song or they forget the album title or them don’t know the song artist,
options will be given so that they can get what they want.
Web Based Music Portal world be managed by an administration. Thus there would be
two different classes of users logging on the site. One is the shop user looking for a song or
songs, and then the administrator who controls the whole process.

1.6 Definition of Terms

 Database: A database is an integrated collection of information, tables and other objects
organized in a systematic manner for data retrieval operations.
 Web Portal: A web portal is most often one specially designed web page that brings
information together from diverse sources in a uniform way.
 Music: Music is an art form whose medium is sound. Generally, a song is considered the
smallest standalone work of music, especially involving singing.
 Web Scripts: A computer programming language adding dynamic capabilities to World
Wide Web pages.
 Web Server: A web server is the computer program that server requested HTML pages of
files.
 Web Client: A web client is the requesting program associated with the user.