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Windows Media Player

Windows Media Player (WMP, officially referred to as Windows Media Player Legacy to distinguish it from the new Windows Media Player introduced with Windows 11), is the first media player and media library application that Microsoft developed to play audio and video on personal computers. It has been a component of the Microsoft Windows operating system, including Windows 9x, Windows NT, Pocket PC, and Windows Mobile. Microsoft also released editions of Windows Media Player for classic Mac OS, Mac OS X, and Solaris, but has since discontinued them.

In addition to being a media player, the app can rip audio file from compact discs, burn Audio CDs or MP3 CDs, synchronize content with a digital audio player or mobile devices, and stream media over the local network. Originally, it could connect to a number of online music stores, allowing its users to purchase digital music. The default file formats are Windows Media Video (WMV), Windows Media Audio (WMA), and Advanced Systems Format (ASF), and its own XML based playlist format called Windows Playlist (WPL). The player is also able to utilize a digital rights management service in the form of Windows Media DRM.

Windows Media Player is a unique component, in that since 1999, each version of Windows came with two or more versions of it side-by-side. For example, Media Player versions 5.1, 6.4, and 8 were all included in Windows XP. Each versions of Windows may bundle several other media playback apps, namely ActiveMovie Control, CD Player, DVD Player, Windows Media Center, and Microsoft Movies & TV.

Windows Media Player 11 is the last out-of-band version of Media Player. It was made available for Windows XP and is included in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. Version 12 was released in 2009 along with Windows 7 and has not been made available for previous versions of Windows nor has it been updated ever since. Windows 8 bundled Windows Media Player 12 along two other media player apps, namely Xbox Video and Xbox Music. The latter was renamed Groove Music in Windows 10, and then finally Media Player in Windows 11 which has also been backported to Windows 10.

History
The first version of Windows Media Player appeared in 1991, when Windows 3.0 with Multimedia Extensions was released. Originally called Media Player, this component was included with "Multimedia PC"-compatible machines but not available for retail sale. It was capable of playing  animation files, and could be extended to support other formats. It used MCI to handle media files. Being a component of Windows, Media Player shows the same version number as that of the version Windows with which it was included. Microsoft continually produced new programs to play media files. In November of the following year, Video for Windows was introduced with the ability to play digital video files in an AVI container format, with codec support for RLE and Video1, and support for playing uncompressed files. Indeo 3.2 was added in a later release. Video for Windows was first available as a free add-on to Windows 3.1, and later integrated into Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0. In 1995, Microsoft released ActiveMovie with DirectX Media SDK. ActiveMovie incorporates a new way of dealing with media files, and adds support for streaming media (which the original Media Player could not handle). In 1996, ActiveMovie was renamed DirectShow. However, Media Player continued to come with Windows until Windows XP, in which it was officially renamed Windows Media Player v5.1. ("v5.1" is the version number of Windows XP).

In 1999, Windows Media Player's versioning broke away from that of Windows itself. Windows Media Player 6.4 came as an out-of-band update for Windows 95-98 and Windows NT 4.0 that co-existed with Media Player and became a built-in component of Windows 2000, Windows ME, and Windows XP with an mplayer2.exe stub allowing to use this built-in instead of newer versions. Windows Media Player 7.0 and its successors also came in the same fashion, replacing each other but leaving Media Player and Windows Media Player 6.4 intact. Windows XP is the only operating system to have three different versions of Windows Media Player (v5.1, v6.4, and v8) side by side. All versions branded Windows Media Player (instead of simply Media Player) support DirectShow codecs. Windows Media Player version 7 was a large revamp, with a new user interface, visualizations and increased functionality. Windows Vista, however, dropped older versions of Windows Media Player in favor of v11, which included the removal of the Windows Media Source Filter (DirectShow codec).

In 2004, Microsoft launched digital music store MSN Music for new Windows Media Player 10 to compete with Apple iTunes. However, MSN Music was discontinued already in 2006 with the launch of Zune music players.

Beginning with Windows Vista, Windows Media Player supports the Media Foundation framework besides DirectShow; as such it plays certain types of media using Media Foundation as well as some types of media using DirectShow. Windows Media Player 12 was released with Windows 7. It included support for more media formats and added new features. With Windows 8, however, the player did not receive an upgrade.

On April 16, 2012, Microsoft announced that Windows Media Player would not be included in Windows RT, the line of Windows designed to run on ARM-based devices.

Windows Media Player (2022)
A different app called Media Player is the successor to Groove Music (previously Xbox Music) and Windows Media Player. Media Player started to be offered to all Windows 11 users on February 15, 2022, with Windows 10 users following in January 2023.

The new Windows Media Player can also play video, as part of Groove's rebranding from a music streaming service to a media player. Other changes include the album cover view being in fullscreen, and a refresh to the mini player. Accessibility has also been optimized, with some improved keyboard shortcuts and hotkey support for keyboard users and with other assistive technologies.

Core playback and library functions
Windows Media Player supports playback of audio, video and pictures, along with fast forward, reverse, file markers (if present) and variable playback speed (seek & time compression/dilation introduced in WMP 9 Series). It supports local playback, streaming playback with multicast streams and progressive downloads. Items in a playlist can be skipped over temporarily at playback time without removing them from the playlist. Full keyboard-based operation is possible in the player.

Windows Media Player supports full media management, via the integrated media library introduced first in version 7, which offers cataloguing and searching of media and viewing media metadata. Media can be arranged according to album, artist, genre, date et al. Windows Media Player 9 Series introduced Quick Access Panel to browse and navigate the entire library through a menu. The Quick Access Panel was also added to the mini-mode in version 10 but was entirely removed in version 11. WMP 9 Series also introduced ratings and Auto Ratings. Windows Media Player 10 introduced support for aggregating pictures, Recorded TV shows, and other media into the library. A fully featured tag editor was featured in versions 9-11 of WMP, called the Advanced Tag Editor. However, the feature was removed in Windows Media Player 12. Since WMP 9 Series, the player features dynamically updated Auto Playlists based on criteria. Auto Playlists are updated every time users open them. WMP 9 Series and later also supports Auto Ratings which automatically assigns ratings based on the number of times a song is played. Pre-populated auto playlists are included in Windows Media Player 9 Series. Custom Auto Playlists can be created only on Windows XP and later.

In Windows Media Player 11, the Quick Access Panel was removed and replaced with an Explorer-style navigation pane on the left which can be customized for each library to show the user selected media or metadata categories, with contents appearing on the right, in a graphical manner with thumbnails featuring album art or other art depicting the item. Missing album art can be added directly to the placeholders in the Library itself (though the program re-renders all album art imported this way into 1x1 pixel ratio, 200x200 resolution JPEGs). There are separate Tiles, Icons, Details or Extended Tiles views for Music, Pictures, Video and Recorded TV which can be set individually from the navigation bar. Entries for Pictures and Video show their thumbnails. Version 11 also introduced the ability to search and display results on-the-fly as characters are being entered, without waiting for Enter key to be hit. Incremental search results are refined based on further characters that are typed. Stacking allows graphical representations of how many albums there are in a specific category or folder. The pile appears larger as the category contains more albums. The List pane includes an option to prompt the user to remove items skipped in a playlist upon save or skip them only during playback.

Visualizations
While playing music, Windows Media Player can show visualizations. The current three visualizations are Alchemy, which was first introduced in version 9, Bars and Waves, which has been used since version 7, and Battery, introduced version 8. Versions 7 and 8 included with Me and XP respectively includes an additional visualization called "Musical Colors", which is not present in out-of-band releases of version 7 and was removed starting with version 9, but is retained if Windows Media Player was upgraded from version 7 or 8. Version 11 and above refrains from having the former "Ambience," "Particle," "Plenoptic," and "Spikes" visualizations from versions 7 to 10. The reason for their removal was that the visualizations do not support full screen controls (either the visualization gets shifted to the left while there is a thick black bar to the right side of the screen, or that there are no full screen controls). More visualizations such as "BlazingColors," "ColorCubes," "PulsingColors," "Softie the Snowman," and "Yule Log" were originally offered as optional extras in version 7 and were later made downloadable from Microsoft's official website, however the downloads have since been taken down. As of today, these visualizations are still available on some websites including the WMP Goodies site.

Format support
The player includes intrinsic support for Windows Media codecs and also WAV and MP3 media formats. On Windows XP and above with WMP 9 Series and later, the Windows Media Audio Professional codec is included which supports multichannel audio at up to 24-bit 192 kHz resolution. Windows Media Player 11 includes the Windows Media Format 11 runtime which adds low bitrate support (below 128 kbit/s for WMA Pro), support for ripping music to WMA Pro 10 and updates the original WMA to version 9.2.

Support for any media codec and container format can be added using specific DirectShow filters or Media Foundation codecs (Media Foundation codecs only in Windows Vista and later). The player will not play MP3 files that contain compressed ID3 headers ("tags"), trying to do so results in a "The input media file is invalid" error message. MP3 playback support was built-in beginning with version 6.1 and audio CD playback was natively supported with version 7.

DVD playback features minus the necessary decoders were integrated into Windows Media Player 8 for Windows XP. The player activates DVD and Blu-ray playback functionality with support for menus, titles and chapters, parental controls and audio track language selection if compatible decoders are installed. MPEG-2 and Dolby Digital (AC-3) decoders were included beginning with Windows Media Player 11 on Windows Vista (Home Premium and Ultimate editions only) and Windows 7 (Home Premium, Ultimate, or Enterprise editions) to allow DVD playback without additional software. However, the decoders were subsequently removed in Windows 8 and Windows 10 due to licensing costs.

Windows Media Player 12 adds native support for H.264 and MPEG-4 Part 2 video formats, ALAC, AAC audio and 3GP, MP4 and MOV container formats. Windows Media Player 12 is also able to play AVCHD formats (.M2TS and .mts).

As of Windows 10 version 1507, Windows Media Player 12 can play FLAC, HEVC, and SubRip subtitle, and Matroska container formats. Although the WebM file type is not officially associated with Windows Media Player 12 (the default player is Microsoft Movies & TV), playback of VP9 video in WebM container is possible on Windows 10 version 1809 and later.

Windows Media Player Mobile
Windows Media Player Mobile 10 on Windows Mobile 6.5 supports MP3, ASF, WMA, and WMV using WMV or MPEG-4 codecs.

Disc burning, ripping, and playback
Windows Media Player features integrated Audio CD-burning support since version 7 as well as data CD burning support since Windows Media Player 9 Series on Windows XP and later. Data CDs can have any of the media formats supported by the player. While burning Data CDs, the media can, optionally, be transcoded into WMA format and playlists can be added to the CD as well. Starting with WMP 9 Series, audio CDs can be burnt with volume leveling.

Audio CDs can be ripped as WMA or WMA 10 Pro (WMA 10 Pro in WMP 11 and later) at 48, 64, 96, 128, 160, and 192 kbit/s, WMA lossless (470 to 940 kbit/s) (9 Series on XP and later), WMA variable bitrate (from 40 to 75 kbit/s up to 240-355 kbit/s), MP3 at 128, 192, 256, and 320 kbit/s, or uncompressed WAV (WAV ripping in WMP 11 and later). Since WMP 9 Series, 20 bit high-resolution CDs (HDCDs) are also supported, if capable audio hardware is present. Audio can be ripped using error correction and ripped audio can be protected with Windows Media DRM. Ripping to MP3 is supported only in Windows Media Player 8 for Windows XP and later if a compatible MP3 encoder is installed. Windows Media Player 10 included the Fraunhofer MP3 Professional encoder. Information on CDs such as album name, artist and track listings can optionally be automatically downloaded from the online Windows Media database when the CD is inserted. Version 11 added support for ripping audio CDs to WAV and WMA 10 Pro formats. With their 2015 implementation in Windows 10, Version 12 also added lossless FLAC and ALAC formats for ripping and playback. For burning, version 11 shows a graphical bar indicating how much space will be used on the disc and introduced Disc spanning which splits a burn list onto multiple discs in case the content does not fit on one disc.

Portable device sync
Windows Media Player allows the user to connect, share and sync data with portable handheld devices and game consoles since version 7. Media can be optionally transcoded to a format better suited for the target device, automatically, when synchronizing. When deleting playlists from devices, Windows Media Player can automatically remove their contents. Devices can be formatted using Windows Media Player 9 Series and later. Version 10 and later support the Media Transfer Protocol and Auto Sync. Auto Sync allows users to specify criteria such as recently added music or highest rated songs, by which media will be automatically synchronized with the portable device and other advanced features like setting the clock on the portable device automatically, communicating with the device to retrieve the user's preferences. Windows Media Player 10 also introduced the UMDF-based Windows Portable Devices API.

Version 11 has improved synchronization features for loading content onto PlaysForSure-compatible portable players. WMP 11 supports reverse-synchronization, by which media present on the portable device can be replicated back to the PC. Shuffle Sync can be used to randomize content synced with the portable device, Multi PC Sync to synchronize portable device content across multiple PCs and Guest Sync to synchronize different content from multiple PCs with the portable device. Portable devices appear in the navigation pane of the library where their content can be browsed and searched.

Windows Media Player's 'Sync' function has options that allow it to be set to automatically down-convert (transcode) high bit-rate song files to a lower bit-rate. This down-conversion function is switched on by default. This is useful for providing low bit-rate files to those portable devices that need them, and to save space on portable devices with smaller storage capacities. For high bit-rate capable devices with sufficient storage capabilities, the down conversion process can be omitted.

In versions 11 (2006) and 12 (2009), the Quality settings that the user has selected in the Windows Media Player settings for Sync, for that specific portable device, are used to control the quality (bit-rate) of files that are copied to the portable device. Leaving the Quality settings to Automatic will often result in 192kbs files being copied to the portable device. Manual settings can also be made. 192kbs is the highest quality down-conversion bit-rate that can be manually selected when the Sync function's down-conversion function is turned on. Lower bit-rates can also be selected.

For portable devices that can handle high bit-rate files, the best quality files are obtained by leaving the down-conversion process switched off (unchecked) for that specific device. In Windows Media Player Version 11, switching off the down-conversion function is done in the Quality tab of the Advanced Options of the Sync settings for the device. In Windows Media Player Version 12, switching off the down-conversion function is done in the Quality tab of the Properties for the device in the Select Settings for the device in the Sync Options menu.

When set up in such a way, Windows Media Player's 'Sync' function can be used to sync unchanged high bit-rate song files to suitable portable devices (i.e. those capable of using file formats such as WMA Lossless, mp3-360kbs, etc.). For example, some users have created large song libraries on their PCs containing .wma formatted song files using the high bit-rate WMA Lossless (WMA-LL) protocol, or using other high bit-rate song file formats. The WMA-LL protocol is selectable in Windows Media Player as an option when ripping songs from CDs. The resulting bit-rates seen on ripped WMA-LL files are often 3 to 6 times higher than 192kbs, and can typically fall anywhere in the range of 600kbs to 1200kbs, depending on the quality of the source file that was present on the CD in the first place. The sound quality is much improved over the default rate, although the file size is larger.

At the time that Versions 11 and 12 were released, the capabilities and capacities of portable devices typically required down-conversion of the bit-rates of the files placed on the portable devices. Thus, Sync down-conversion was turned on by default. This was to ensure playability of the files and to ensure that the file sizes were small enough to efficiently fit a reasonably large selection of songs on the portable device.

In recent years (circa 2012), portable devices became available that could natively play these Windows Media Player produced high bit-rate WMA-LL files (and others), and that have storage capacities suitable for large collections of high bit-rate song files. This made it much more practicable and desirable to use software programs such as Windows Media Player to synchronize previously PC-bound libraries of high bit-rate songs to these new portable devices.

Enhanced playback features
Windows Media Player features universal brightness, contrast, saturation and hue adjustments and pixel aspect ratio for supported video formats. It also includes a 10-band graphic equalizer with presets and SRS WOW audio post-processing system. Windows Media Player can also have attached audio and video DSP plug-ins which process the output audio or video data. Video Smoothing was introduced in WMP 9 Series (Windows XP and later only) which upscales frame-rate by interpolating added frames, in effect giving a smoother playback on low-framerate videos. The player supports subtitles and closed-captioning for local media, video on demand streaming or live streaming scenarios. Typically Windows Media captions support the SAMI file format but can also carry embedded closed caption data.

The player can use video overlays or VMR (Video Mixing Renderer) surfaces, if the video card supports them. In Windows XP, it uses VMR7 by default, but can also be made to use the more advanced YUV mixing mode by enabling the "Use high quality mode" option in Advanced Performance settings. This turns on deinterlacing, scaling and improved color accuracy. WMP 9 Series introduced native playback for deinterlacing for TV output. Version 9 introduced DXVA accelerated playback. Version 11 introduced improved support for DirectX accelerated decoding of WMV video (DXVA decoding). Up to version 11, it supported static lyrics and "Synchronized Lyrics,” by which different lines of lyrics can be time-stamped, so that they display only at those times. Synchronized Lyrics also were accessible through the Advanced Tag Editor which was removed in version 12.

Since Windows Media Player 9 Series, the player supports crossfading, audio dynamic range (Quiet Mode) for WMA Pro and WMA Lossless, and auto volume leveling for certain media which includes volume level/gain information such as MP3 or Windows Media. The player also supports extensive configurable privacy and security settings.

Shell integration
The player has Windows Explorer shell integration to add files and playlist to the Now Playing pane and other playlists can be controlled from the Windows Explorer shell itself, via right-click menu. The My Music folder also includes a separate My Playlists folder where playlists are maintained. When the player is closed and reopened, simply clicking the play button restores the last playlist even if it was not saved. Starting with Windows Media Player 10, the playlist pane is also visible from the Library view. AutoPlay handlers in Windows expose various Windows Media Player tasks.

Up to version 11, it featured a taskbar-mounted Mini-mode in which the most common media control buttons are presented as a toolbar on the Windows taskbar. Flyout windows can display media information, the active visualization or the video being played back. Mini-mode was introduced as a shell player powertoy for Windows Media Player 8 in Windows XP and integrated later into WMP 9 Series. Mini-mode has been removed in Windows Media Player 12 in favor of controls in the taskbar's interactive thumbnail preview which lacks volume control, a progress bar and information displayed whenever a new song is played. Despite this, however, Mini-mode can be restored in Windows Media Player 12 by registering the wmpband.dll file from Windows Media Player 11.

The user interface has been redesigned in Windows Media Player 12 such that the Now Playing view plays media in a separate minimalist window with floating playback controls, and also gives access to the current playlist, visualizations, and enhancements. Enhancements are housed in individual undocked windows. The library view includes the rest of the media management functions. It also can preview songs from the library when users hover over the media file and click the Preview button. Windows Media Player 12 can play unprotected songs from the iTunes library. As previously mentioned, taskbar-integrated mini-mode has been replaced with controls in the taskbar's interactive thumbnail preview (called the Thumbnail Toolbar), albeit minus the volume control function, track and album information shown whenever a new song is played and the progress bar. The taskbar icon also supports jump lists introduced in Windows 7.

Extensibility
The player has had skinning support since Windows Media Player (WMP) 7 and includes a color chooser since the WMP 9 Series. Not all functions are usually exposed in skin mode. Windows Media Player 10 allows setting the video border color. Color chooser has been removed in WMP 12. It supports visualizations and Info Center View (Info Center View in WMP 9 Series and later) which displays media metadata fetched from the internet. Full screen visualizations are supported in WMP 9 Series and later. It supports Background plug-ins, window plug-ins and Now Playing plug-ins to control media playback besides DSP and renderer plug-ins. Plug-in support was introduced in WMP 9 Series.

Online features
The player integrates web-browsing support to browse online music stores, shop for music and tune to internet radio stations since version 7. It provides an embeddable ActiveX control for Internet Explorer so that developers can play Windows Media on web pages. Windows Media Player 10 and later feature integration with a large number of online music stores and selecting a music store switches the Info Center view, radio and other online features to use services from that store. Purchased music from a particular store appears in a separate library node under the respective category.

Media streaming
Previously, Microsoft had released Windows Media Connect for Windows XP to stream media content with its built-in UPnP media server. With version 11 of Windows Media Player, Media Sharing was integrated and allows content (Music, Pictures, Video) to be streamed to and from Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) AV enabled devices such as the PS3, Xbox 360, and Roku SoundBridge. This includes DRM protected PlaysForSure content. WMP 11 on Windows Vista can also act as a client to connect to remote media libraries using this feature; this is not available on the Windows XP version.

With version 12, media streaming was further improved. While previous versions streamed media to UPnP compliant devices (Digital Media Server role) and could play media by fetching it from a network share (Digital Media Player role), Windows Media Player 12 can access media from the shared media libraries on the network or HomeGroup, stream media to DLNA 1.5 compliant devices and allows itself (once the remote control option is turned on) to be remotely controlled by Digital Media Controller devices which stream media (Digital Media Renderer role). Similarly, the Play To feature once enabled for remote PCs, by turning on remote control of the player, allows compliant devices and computers to be discovered and controlled remotely from a computer running Windows Media Player 12 (Digital Media Controller role). If the devices do not support the streamed format, Windows Media Player 12 transcodes the format on-the-fly. Media from a home network can also be streamed over the internet using an Online ID Provider service, which handles discovery of the computer's IP address, authorization, security, connectivity and Quality of Service issues.

Skin Mode
Windows Media Player also features skins. Currently, Windows Media Player has two default skins: "Corporate,” which was first introduced in version 8, and "Revert,” which first shipped with version 9. In versions 7, 8, 9, and 10, there were many usual skins offered, some of which were included in various versions of Windows; a non-exhaustive list of skins included "9SeriesDefault,” "Atomic,” "Bluesky,” "Canvas,” "Classic,” "Compact,” "goo,” "Headspace,” "heart,” "iconic,” "Miniplayer,” "Optic,” "Pyrite,” "QuickSilver,” "Radio,” "Roundlet,” "Rusty,” "splat,” "Toothy,” "Windows Classic,” and "Windows XP.” All of these skins were removed starting with version 11, but are retained if the player is upgraded. Some skins such as the ones included in previous versions can be downloaded from the Microsoft website, however they have since been removed. Despite this, they can still be found on an archived version of the page, dating from 2016. The Corporate skin is not deletable.

Security issues
Microsoft Windows Media Runtime in Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows Server contained a bug that permitted "remote code execution if a user opened a specially crafted media file". Such a file would allow the attacker to "then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights", if the account on which the file was played had administrator privileges. The problem was addressed in a critical update issued on September 8, 2009.

Other versions
Microsoft has also released versions of Windows Media Player for other platforms including Windows Mobile, classic Mac OS, Mac OS X, Palm-size PC, Handheld PC, and Solaris. Of these, only the Windows Mobile edition continues to be actively developed and supported by Microsoft. Version 1 of the Zune software was also based on Windows Media Player; later versions are not.

Windows Mobile
Windows Media Player for Pocket PC was first announced on January 6, 2000, and has been revised on a schedule roughly similar to that of the Windows version. Currently known as "Media Player 10 Mobile,” this edition (released in October 2004) closely resembles the capabilities of the Windows version of WMP 10, including playlist capabilities, a media library, album art, WMA Lossless playback, support for DRM-protected media, video playback at 640×480 with stereo sound, and the same Energy Blue interface aesthetics also seen in Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005. It also supports synchronization with the desktop version of WMP 10, and additionally supports synchronizing and transcoding of recorded television shows from Media Center. Media Player 10 Mobile is not available as a download from Microsoft, distribution is done solely through OEM partners, and is typically included on devices based on Windows Mobile.

Windows Mobile 6 includes a copy of Windows Media Player 10 Mobile, but with a similar (but not quite identical) theme as Windows Media Player 11.

Mac OS X
Version 9 was the final version of Windows Media Player to be released for Mac OS X before development was canceled by Microsoft. It was developed by the Windows Media team at Microsoft instead of the Macintosh Business Unit and released in 2003. On release the application lacked many basic features that were found in other media players such as Apple's iTunes and QuickTime. It also lacked support for many media formats that version 9 of the Windows counterpart supported on release 10 months earlier.

The Mac version supported only Windows Media encoded media (up to version 9) enclosed in the ASF format, lacking support for all other formats such as MP4, MPEG, and Microsoft's own AVI format. On the user interface front, it did not prevent screensavers from running during playback, it did not support file drag-and-drop, nor did it support playlists. While Windows Media Player 9 had added support for some files that use the WMV9 codec (also known as the WMV3 codec by the FourCC), in other aspects it was seen as having degraded in features from previous versions.

On January 12, 2006, Microsoft announced it had ceased development of Windows Media Player for Mac. Microsoft now distributes a third-party plugin called WMV Player (produced and maintained by Flip4Mac) which allows some forms of Windows Media to be played within Apple's QuickTime Player and other QuickTime-aware applications.

European Commission case
In March 2004, the European Commission in the European Union Microsoft antitrust case fined Microsoft €497 million and ordered the company to provide a version of Windows without Windows Media Player, claiming Microsoft "broke European Union competition law by leveraging its near monopoly in the market for PC operating systems onto the markets for work group server operating systems and for media players.” The company has made available a compliant version of its flagship operating system under the negotiated name "Windows XP N,” though the product has not been very successful. Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8 are also available in "N" editions. However, it is possible to either install Windows Media Player (XP/Vista) or the Media Restore Pack through Windows Update (Vista) to add the media player.

Release history
Prior to the release of Windows Media Player in Windows 98 Second Edition, separate programs, CD Player, Deluxe CD Player, DVD Player and Media Player, were included in old versions of Microsoft Windows for playback of media files. Only Windows Media Player 11 is not available for Windows Server 2003.

title: Windows Media Player


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Petri dish

A Petri dish (alternatively known as a Petri plate or cell-culture dish) is a shallow transparent lidded dish that biologists use to hold growth medium in which cells can be cultured, originally, cells of bacteria, fungi and small mosses. The container is named after its inventor, German bacteriologist Julius Richard Petri. It is the most common type of culture plate. The Petri dish is one of the most common items in biology laboratories and has entered popular culture. The term is sometimes written in lower case, especially in non-technical literature.

What was later called Petri dish was originally developed by German physician Robert Koch in his private laboratory in 1881, as a precursor method. Petri, as assistant to Koch, at Berlin University made the final modifications in 1887 as used today.

Penicillin, the first antibiotic, was discovered in 1929 when Alexander Fleming noticed that penicillium mold contaminating a bacterial culture in a Petri dish had killed the bacteria around it.

Features and variants
Petri dishes are usually cylindrical, mostly with diameters ranging from 30 to 200 mm, and a height to diameter ratio ranging from 1:10 to 1:4. Squarish versions are also available.

Petri dishes were traditionally reusable and made of glass; often of heat-resistant borosilicate glass for proper sterilization at 120–160 °C.

Since the 1960s, plastic dishes, usually disposable, are also common.

The dishes are often covered with a shallow transparent lid, resembling a slightly wider version of the dish itself. The lids of glass dishes are usually loose-fitting. Plastic dishes may have close-fitting covers that delay the drying of the contents. Alternatively, some glass or plastic versions may have small holes around the rim, or ribs on the underside of the cover, to allow for air flow over the culture and prevent water condensation.

Some Petri dishes, especially plastic ones, usually feature rings and/or slots on their lids and bases so that they are less prone to sliding off one another when stacked or sticking to a smooth surface by suction.

Small dishes may have a protruding base that can be secured on a microscope stage for direct examination.

Some versions may have grids printed on the bottom to help in measuring the density of cultures.

A microplate is a single container with an array of flat-bottomed cavities, each being essentially a small Petri dish. It makes it possible to inoculate and grow dozens or hundreds of independent cultures of dozens of samples at the same time. Besides being much cheaper and convenient than separate dishes, the microplate is also more amenable to automated handling and inspection.

Some plates are separated into different mediums known as biplates, triplates, and quadplates.

History
The Petri dish was developed by German physician Julius Richard Petri (after whom the name is given) while working as an assistant to Robert Koch at Berlin University. Petri did not invent the culture dish himself; rather, it was a modified version of Koch's invention which used an agar medium that was developed by Walther Hesse. Koch had published a precursor dish in a booklet in 1881 titled "Zur Untersuchung von Pathogenen Organismen" (Methods for the Study of Pathogenic Organisms), which has been known as the "Bible of Bacteriology". He described a new bacterial culture method that used a glass slide with agar and a container (basically a Petri dish, a circular glass dish of 20 × 5 cm with matching lid) which he called feuchte Kammer ("moist chamber"). A bacterial culture was spread on the glass slide, then placed in the moist chamber with a small wet paper. Bacterial growth was easily visible.

Koch publicly demonstrated his plating method at the Seventh International Medical Congress in London in August 1881. There, Louis Pasteur exclaimed, "C'est un grand progrès, Monsieur!" ("What a great progress, Sir!") It was using this method that Koch discovered important pathogens of tuberculosis (Mycobacterium tuberculosis), anthrax (Bacillus anthracis), and cholera (Vibrio cholerae). For his research on tuberculosis, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1905. His students also made important discoveries. Friedrich Loeffler discovered the bacteria of glanders (Burkholderia mallei) in 1882 and diphtheria (Corynebacterium diphtheriae) in 1884; and Georg Theodor August Gaffky, the bacterium of typhoid (Salmonella enterica) in 1884.

Petri made changes in how the circular dish was used. It is often asserted that Petri developed a new culture plate, but this is incorrect. Instead of using a separate glass slide or plate on which culture media were placed, Petri directly placed media into the glass dish, eliminating unnecessary steps such as transferring the culture media, using the wet paper, and reducing the chance of contamination. He published the improved method in 1887 as "Eine kleine Modification des Koch’schen Plattenverfahrens" ("A minor modification of the plating technique of Koch"). Although it could have been named "Koch dish", the final method was given an eponymous name Petri dish.

Microbiology

Petri dishes are widely used in biology to cultivate microorganisms such as bacteria, yeasts, and molds. It is most suited for organisms that thrive on a solid or semisolid surface.

The culture medium is often an agar plate, a layer a few mm thick of agar or agarose gel containing whatever nutrients the organism requires (such as blood, salts, carbohydrates, amino acids) and other desired ingredients (such as dyes, indicators, and medicinal drugs). The agar and other ingredients are dissolved in warm water and poured into the dish and left to cool down. Once the medium solidifies, a sample of the organism is inoculated ("plated").

The dishes are then left undisturbed for hours or days while the organism grows, possibly in an incubator. They are usually covered, or placed upside-down, to lessen the risk of contamination from airborne spores.

Virus or phage cultures require that a population of bacteria be grown in the dish first, which then becomes the culture medium for the viral inoculum.

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In popular culture
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title: Petri dish


text:
Talk:Freestyle music

older talk entries
I think that there are two types of freestyling that need to be addressed here. First is freestyle as a genre of music, which the entry addresses. The second that should be covered is Freestyling as an improvisational form of hip hop. This is the type that this baked lass refers to in her "freestyle" (I doubt she remembers writing it). I found the freestyle entry by following a link from the the wikipedia entry about the rapper Jin. Just to clear up confusion I think that both definitions of freestyle should be covered. Thank you.

www.NewYorkFreestyle.com

You're talking two different genres of music. True they are both descended ultimately from 1970s disco music, but they are still different nonetheless. I would suggest you create a new wiki entry on that.

~ bxmuchacho —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bxmuchacho (talk • contribs) 17:11, 25 December 2009 (UTC)

What about Stevie B in Hitlist?
To me Stevie B always seemed to be one of the Top10 Artists of Latin Freestyle next to Artists like Johnny O. Am I false?

--213.23.134.62 20:21, 23 August 2005 (UTC)

i think the hitlist needs an overhaul and needs to consult some charts, and reference them so that we can be a bit more objective about it. --Yoasif 22:55, August 23, 2005 (UTC)

Charts (Billboard charts etc.) themselves don't necessarily show the impact, especially in underground genres like freestyle, which from my prospective was somewhat of a word of mouth genre. Not to demean big stars from smaller ones, but Jimi Hendrix had a huge impact on music but technically he was a one-hit wonder. --Maya Levy 19 January 2006

Edited the hitlist. Infohunter 00:48, 28 January 2006 (UTC)
 * No you removed half the list arbitrarily. Until the time someone actually backs up artist addition/removal based on chart placement, I will revert to this consensus version of the list.  ALKIVAR ™[[Image:Radioactive.svg|18px|]] 01:05, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

I agree about the hit list. It's very random. Also "Together Forever" by Lisette Melendez is credited by many for reviving freestyle music in the 90s and was a big hit. Much more representive of freestyle music in this article than "Time Passes By". So I'm removing "Time Passes By" because of duplicate entry. --Bigplankton 21:28, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

"Together Forever" spent 10 weeks at the top of New York Dance charts. --Bigplankton 21:43, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

I added Corina's "Temptation" to the list because it peaked at #12 on Billboard Hot 100 and was a number #1 dance hit. --Bigplankton 21:50, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

I added Pittsburgh as a city because the gay bars here played freestlye HEAVILY in the late 80s/90s when no where but NY and Chicago or LA would.

Freestyle Artists
"Furthermore, many DJs who played the music, such as Jellybean, Tony Torres, Raul Soto and Roman Ricardo were Hispanic. However, those on stage performing the songs were not, neither were most of the producers making the music."

I think the second sentence in that quote is erroneous. If you look at the list of the most popular and well-known freestyle artists, almost all of them were of Latino/Hispanic heritage. Some others who were Italian (e.g. Anthony Monteleone of Collage and Gioia Bruno of Expose), Nocera, Laissez Faire, Shana, Tolga, Linear, Company B, Collage, Teena Marie, Joey Desimone, Dino and Pajama Party. There's a reason why Freestyle music's audiences were primarily Hispanic and Italians. Those audiences identified with the artists because the artists grew up in the same ethnic communities as their audiences and came from latin/Italian backgrounds. (The term Guido was born during this era). Artists like Information Society and Samantha Fox, Stacy Q, Rockell, Shannon and Taylor Dayne were some of the few non-Hispanic, white, non-Italian artists to gain popularity in the freestyle genre.

On a more interesting note, Freestyle music also gained some popularity among Asians and Asian Americans as well (in part because of artists like Filipina American Jocelyn Enriquez). Lots of Asian pop music (particularly J-Pop or K-Pop artists like Jinusean, Utada Hikaru, etc.) definitely were influenced by freestyle music. I went to high school in central Jersey, and had several friends in Edison. Nightclubs and social gatherings in the Edison area often play freestyle music or trance. Teknosoul02 00:40, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Jimi Hendrix a one hit wonder
I seriously doubt that - See Joel Whitburn's book on Top 40 songs. Freestyle's peak years were between 1984-1992.. Collage's I'll be loving you is the last Hot 100 chart record reaching the mid 50s or 60s in 1994 or 1995. Fans pining for freestyle's comeback are no different from people wishing for the return of glam metal, progressive rock, grunge, swing, etc. Music marches on and leaves past trends behind. Of course there are some that will integrate pieces of music of years gone by into their current repertoire. Pop music (which is currently dominated by rap) remains pretty much current. People are downloading what's out there and it's usually pop-punk (Fall Out Boy, etc), American Idol stuff, some country and mostly hip hop and hip hop r&b.

P. Diddy's rise in New York, the arrival of the Dirty South beats and then Crunk in the Southern U.S. and Gangsta Rap on the West Coast spelled the death knell for freestyle in the U.S. Sampling also made it easier to construct songs. This article is excellent and in fact very accurate.

76.199.67.153 17:57, 7 April 2007 (UTC)

Don't be too sure. It is quite possible in the Hispanic community of New York and Miami where salsa music has enjoyed periods of rabid popularity only to nearly be vanquished (by merengue first, then reggaeton) and then it comes roaring back to life again. Hispanics do not look at music in a straight line or subscribe to the English market's dictation of trends. Case in point: bachata. It is HUGE now. Bachata was also huge when my great-grandmother was a young lady. My great-grandmother lived to be 113. I never met her. But I hear the style of music she would instantly recognize blaring in my neighborhood everyday.

~ bxmuchacho —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bxmuchacho (talk • contribs) 17:19, 25 December 2009 (UTC)

Classics
I really think somebody who knows alot about freestyle history should make a Classics ( rival of freestyle)article...i would if i had all the 411 on that one. user:homan05

comeback
was there not a little a mini comeback of freestyle music in the late 90's particular in 97, 98 with hits like rockell and collage cant we try(98) and Jocelyn Enriquez Do You Miss Me(97)--Wikiscribe (talk) 18:49, 20 April 2008 (UTC)

Kraftwerk removed!
If you want to put that in again, please have good evidence for it. For me it is nonsense: the "Numbers" piece was krafted (sic!) in 1981, when FS was not even too widely known in NYC. *If* you want to name a track, maybe go for "Musique non stop"/"Techno pop" or such stuff. But not "Numbers". -andy 92.230.14.202 (talk) 19:15, 29 October 2008 (UTC)

 * Numbers is not a freestyle song. But there is a strong case that a lot of the early freestyle and electro pieces were influenced by Kraftwerk; think of Planet Rock and Trans-Europe Express.  But the sentence also says the European artists incorporated freestyle into their own productions, which I really don't see happening with Kraftwerk.  New Order is also listed in that section, and while I'm pretty sure Kraftwerk is influential, I'm less sure about the New Order songs.  While a lot of the male freestyle vocals from the late 80s have a definite British-synthpop sound to them, i'm not convinced that Confusion by New Order was the model.  We could mention though that some bands from that era that were considered both freestyle and synthpop, such as Information Society and Will To Power. Squidfryerchef (talk) 04:29, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

 * Freestyle is nothing but taking electronic music and sticking latin percussion in it. Electronic music existed before "freestyle". Planet Rock is cited in this article as "Freestyle's first child", and Planet Rock is "melody from Kraftwerk's song Trans Europe Express and the beat from Kraftwerk's song Numbers." So clearly without Kraftwerk there would be no Freestyle. I'm old enough to remember hearing Freestyle for the first time and thinking it was just ripped off electronic music. Maybe it seemed new to the latin dance crowd? DavidRavenMoon (talk) 12:58, 7 April 2011 (UTC)

actually, the idea of labeling kraftwerk as a freestyle act (or labeling certain of their songs as "freestyle compositions") isn't so weird. without kraftwerk, there would not have been freestyle. freestyle "came out of kraftwerk's naval." (the same can be said for industrial music, electro, techno, house, bass music, trance, etc., etc., etc., etc.) freestyle was influenced not only by kraftwerk but also by new order, depeche mode, and the "synth pop" genre as a whole. at the time, there was a bit of confusion as to what constituted "freestyle" and what would be more correctly labeled "synth pop." one of the reasons noel pagan became a star was because he seemed to fit into both genres at once. he had a "latin street gangster" image, yet his arrangements sounded like synth pop and his voice even sounded like that of a british synth pop singer. and the influence did extend the other way around as well. some new order tracks WERE influenced by freestyle, or at least remixed in freestyle versions. it is even possible that the members of kraftwerk were aware of latin freestyle and incorporated some of its influence in their later material.75.68.9.233 (talk) 01:52, 18 April 2013 (UTC)

"Artist SHANNON - Song: LET THE MUSIC PLAY"!
Freestyle or Latin Freestyle, also called Latin Hip Hop or Heartthrob Music in its early years, is a form of electronic dance music that is heavily influenced by Black & Latin American culture. Its been known in [Miami, FL] and [New York] as Electro Hip Hop as early as 1983 with the first Electro FREESTYLE MUSIC by "Artist SHANNON - Song: LET THE MUSIC PLAY" & "GIVE ME TONIGHT", this Song made a crossover and a breakthru with the METALIX DRUM MACHINE Sounds from the Roland CR-8000 drum machine, Roland JX-3P, and Roland TB-303.

The record redefined the electro funk sound that Arthur Baker and John Rocca (who produced "I.O.U" by Freeez and "One More Shot/Get Wet" by C-Bank) developed in 1982.

This style of Electro Funk was redefined as Freestyle because of the way it was produced and mixed. Barbosa is widely credited as the genre's founder. Baker and Robie eventually copied his sound three months later on Jenny Burton's "Remember What You Like" (released three months after "Let the Music Play") Tina B's "Honey to a Bee" (1984) and the Goon Squad's "Eight Arms to Hold You" (1985).

Shannon (born Shannon Brenda Greene on 2 May 1958, in Washington, D.C.), is an American singer. She is best known for her 1983 dance-freestyle record "Let the Music Play." Under the direction of Chris Barbosa. Her album, released in February 1984 was also the first Freestyle album in Dance music history, and went gold (selling over 1 million copies at the time). Both the 12" & 7" singles where also certified Gold.

Chris Barbosa is a producer from New York who redefined electro funk as Latin freestyle in the early 1980s with Shannon's "Let the Music Play." Emergency Records wasn't signing any more artists in 1986, forcing Barbosa and Liggett to launch their own label, which was named Ligosa Records.

(DJFLEX-mk2) 12:30, 14 November 2008 (UTC)

at this point, shannon may have more "latino" fans than aftrican american ones. in some freestyle circles, she seems to be accepted as a kind of "honorary latina," or at least as "freestyle's token african-american diva."(the exception that proves the rule. sharyn macerin might be considered "freestyle's token asian diva.")   shannon's position with respect to freestyle might be likened to steve cropper's status as a pioneer of soul music. she is one of the few african-american artists who has figured in the development of what is predominantly a "latin" musical genre.75.68.9.233 (talk) 02:04, 18 April 2013 (UTC)

Correction to Freestyle
I had to correct a user who had falsely added that freestyle was replaced by pop music by artists like, paula abdul and (get this) will smith, which isn't true. Pop music had NOTHING to do with freestyle nor with its downfall. There is no source in the universe supporting the falsehood that pop music replaced freestyle. The truth is, freestyle was supplanted by house music, pure and simple. Through my efforts, the info now has been corrected and reflects historical significance. Thanks. 68.173.91.50 (talk) 01:54, 23 January 2009 (UTC)

"Artist SHANNON - Correction
Just to correct you, you imply that Shannon was the first freestyle artist and that her song, 'Let the Music Play', the first freeestyle song made in 1984. Nothing can be further from the truth. Technically speaking, many contend that the first freestyle song that was made was 'Planet Rock' by Soul Sonic Force in 1982. 68.173.91.50 (talk) 19:21, 23 January 2009 (UTC) something could be said for BOTH views. and for the view that freestyle preceeded both of your examples. which is quite ironic, since freestyle is considered to be a "latin" genre, yet three of the first acts to record "freestyle songs" were (a) a german synth pop group (kraftwerk, who recorded the track on which "planet rock" was based), (b) an african american hip hop act (soul sonic force), and (b) an african american vocalist (shannon). proving that the history of popular music cannot be conceptualized along strict racial or ethnic lines. (it may be politically incorrect to point this out, but some of the forgotten pioneers of hip hop [such as man parrish] were actually WHITE. and man parrish himself may have influenced early freestyle.)  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.68.9.233 (talk) 02:15, 18 April 2013 (UTC)

Toronto Freestyle
There is no mention of Toronto's contribution to the resurgence on Freestyle music from 1990-1996; a time when many of the NY and miami artists sole performance gigs where Toronto based, embraced by toronto's Latin, Greek, Italian and Persian communities. Toronto's radio stations energy 108 (now defunt) and z103 (still active) play freestyle for a good amount of their programing. There are also a few notable Toronto freestyle artist (that later moved to a more euro sound) that should also be mentioned. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.225.142.137 (talk) 22:55, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Documentary about Freestyle?
This might be old news to some, but there's a movie about the rise of freestyle in the works from Alumbra films. In too much of a hurry to get more sources and weave this into the article, but don't want to lose this title and this is something to watch. Squidfryerchef (talk) 15:25, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

Needs work
The article needs some cleaning up, organizing, and citing. I've done some work but will do more when I get a chance.--Jrkso (talk) 23:54, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Of Talkbox, Chicano Rap and Freestyle
1. Isn't talkbox part of the freestyle movement? 2. Doesn't Chicano Rap use Latin Freestyle in their music? For proof, look up "Jam" and "Do It" by Lil' Rob.

"Jam" "Do It"

ElMeroEse (talk) 23:19, 4 July 2010 (UTC) if anything, (latin) freestyle is characterized by SUNG (not rapped) vocals. a freestyle song may have a "rapped" interlude, but i doubt that many songs with purely RAPPED vocals could be thought of as "authentic" freestyle. hip hop has influenced freestyle and frestyle has also influenced hip hop (a rap composition could include a sung freestyle interlude in the same way that a freestyle track might include a short rap as part of its lyric), but this influence is marginal and shouldn't be overemphasized. freestyle and hip hop emerged from the same roots (electro and synth pop), yet the two quickly went their separate ways, more or less along racial or ethnic lines. "freestyle rap" is a separate genre which has very little to do with (latin) freestyle. the "freestyle" in "freestyle rap" actually refers to the way the lyrics are delivered. (i wouldn't even call "freestyle rap" a musical genre. it's more TEXTUAL than MUSICAL, more akin to street poetry than popular music.)75.68.9.233 (talk) 02:50, 18 April 2013 (UTC)

Defense of my edits
Apparently I've irritated the anonymous contributor with NYC-based IP address 108.14.212.26, so I will defend my edits, which largely (but not entirely) stand in opposition to his own edits. My edits today look major but are actually pretty benign.

The intro was several paragraphs long and needed to be split into a simple lead, a History section, and an Examples section, so I added History and Examples headings as needed. There was a bunch of text about the New York scene that was not in the New York section and didn't really belong in the intro, so I moved it there. This didn't involve removing anything, and shouldn't be a problem.

In the intro, I reworked some text to say "It was most popular around 1987, then its popularity declined as it was displaced by house music." Here's the former version of that text, interspersed with my comments:
 * It was at its peak in popularity in 1987, but declined in popularity by 1988—Actually it seems to have been quite popular in 1986 and 1988 as well; 1989 was the year it really started sinking. So I feel "around 1987" is better, until we get some reliable sources, as required by the WP:V policy, to back up these claims.
 * ...as it was displaced by disco-influenced House music, its polar opposite.—Calling house freestyle's "opposite", and adding the word "polar" for emphasis, is just hyperbolic editorializing. House and freestyle do have different influences & roots, but they're not opposites. I do, however, believe it's worth mentioning that house's disco basis sets it apart from freestyle's electro-funk basis. This is just not the place to do it. More on that below.
 * ...Many critics—This is a violation of the WP:AWW policy. Don't talk about "some" or "many" people unless you can cite the sources that confirm it.
 * ...allude to House music being the reincarnation of the 70s disco that overthrew Freestyle's modern electro sound of the 80s.—See above. Also do you have some examples of these "many critics" who say these things?
 * ...Overall, this represented an unfortunate regression in the music genre.—pure editorializing. This kind of comment has no place in an encyclopedia. How is "unfortunate" ever neutral?
 * ...House music was the pivotal force—hyperbole.
 * ...that signaled an end to the 80s music and style in general, including Freestyle.—It was already said that house overtook freestyle. Why say it again? Emphasis through repetition? Why "signaled"? I would think you'd want to say house "brought about" the end of freestyle['s popularity]. And "an end to the 80s music and style in general" is hyperbolic. House did not end all music styles of the 1980s. No need for this sentence at all.

The historical info contained the same kinds of problems, so I addressed those issues in the same way, tightening up the text, toning down the emphasis on 1987, getting rid of weasel words like "some may argue", and starting to reduce redundancy (how many ways do we need to say that house killed freestyle? Fewer than we do now!)...and I injected words like "syncopated" to talk about freestyle and "disco rhythms" to contrast it with house. I did this to address the question of how freestyle's nemesis, house music, represented a different sound, not just different influences. The fact that freestyle is based on syncopated percussion is mentioned later in the article and shouldn't be contentious.

If you have specific concerns about these edits, you need to assume good faith and engage in civil discussion here about what you're trying to communicate in the article and why its current text isn't doing a good enough job. Edit wars and unexplained rollbacks are not the way to go about it. —mjb (talk) 05:49, 27 December 2010 (UTC)

 * I can't believe this anonymous New York-based visitor is still at it, two years later, blindly trying to restore the article to his badly written version, with all its errors and opinions, bad inter-wiki links, external link spam, and reversions of numerous good edits made in the meantime. I appreciate User:Che829's diligence in undoing these improper and largely indefensible rollbacks. —mjb (talk) 15:42, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

i agree that house is not freestyle's polar opposite. in fact, they are more like brother and sister. and i would argue that they come from essentially the SAME roots. both were influenced by electro (or "electro funk") and synth pop as well as by disco and other genres. it's the way the ingredients are mixed that makes the difference. house has more of a disco influence than does freestyle, and this sets it apart. freestyle has more respect for conventional pop songform than does house, and of course there is the "latin" element in latin freestyle which really doesn't have a counterpart in house music. it's amusing reading the stuff about how house was freestyle's nemesis and how house "overtook" freestyle. i would see them as catering to two different though somewhat overlapping audiences (while influencing each other, at least to a samll extent). house may have triumphed over freestyle for a short while, yet both genres are now minor blips on the musical scene, both part of nostalgic "retro" or "old skool" culture.75.68.9.233 (talk) 03:15, 18 April 2013 (UTC)

regarding the rewrite of the paragraph @ line 92
Nicely written, but maybe without all the unnecessary details? I see that Mike Cornette and Steve Sylvester (who, outside of the NYC area would know who they are?) and others are mentioned and a specific date at the Coda in 2004. It appears as a little self promotion (pat on the back). I feel this is unnecessary for a Wikipedia article. DJghr1 (talk) 2 Aug 2011 (UTC)

compressing and chopping this article?
This article is in serious need of being compressed. It really doesn't need so many sub-categories (such as Toronto Freestyle, for instance) and is far too long and boring. The basics and beginnings and how it ended, and that's it..wham, bam, chop chop. There's far too many names and unknowns written in the article, and so much unnecessary garbage. No wonder it has a "start class" rating. I may consider re-writing but if someone who feels they can rewrite it from a neutral point of view wants to tackle it, feel free! Don't forget to keep the sources and citations! DJghr1 (talk) 8 Aug 2011 (UTC)

 * Heh, part of the problem is that even the few sources here aren't necessarily good ones. When the copy edit's complete, the article will be much more readable, and is likely to be shorter. I won't necessarily remove a lot of information here, even though hardly any of it is sourced, but there are a lot of POV and peacock statements that need to go. I don't necessarily agree that the subcategories are bad, but there's a definite need for more references. When an article's thoroughly referenced, it not only weeds out the opinions and incorrect hearsay statements, it tends to direct the article toward the important instead of the trivial things. Dementia13 (talk) 01:01, 7 September 2012 (UTC)

 * OK, here's a suggestion: all those subsections talk about regional scenes. Few of the artists listed had any impact outside of their own region. If there are sources available to support that information, those sections could be rolled off into an article on freestyle regional scenes. If sources are not available, then there's a problem with notability, and the sections should be deleted. Dementia13 (talk) 01:34, 7 September 2012 (UTC)

AOL Radio
The article should mention that this music can be listened to on AOL Radio's "80s Dance" station.(I smoke hashish (talk) 02:25, 27 December 2011 (UTC))

Copy Edit comments
I'm doing a copy edit on this article, and when I see issues that are outside of what the copy edit does, things that usually get taken care of by an article's main editor, I point them out on the talk page.
 * Origins: ...it was a fusion of synthetic instrumentation and syncopated percussion of the 1980s electro... "fusion" means a combination of at least two things. Combination of electro and what? "synthetic instrumentation" is not a kind of music, it's an element that's used in a lot of kinds of music. It seems like there's some information missing. Then:
 * ...It was also influenced by sampling, as found in hip hop music. This needs a reference to be cleared up. First, sampling is a technique that would be used in the music, it's not a style of music that could be an "influence" on something. I could change that wording, but the second thing is that samplers weren't yet common in 1983, so I suspect that's a factual error. More likely, sampling was incorporated during a later period, sometime after 1984. Dementia13 (talk) 02:31, 6 September 2012 (UTC)
 * OK, I get it, the heading lies. It says "1980-1983", but the section keeps on going into the 1990s. That helps the second sentence, but the first is still a problem. Dementia13 (talk) 02:35, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

 * Early 1990s: I had to trim this sentence: Cross-over influences became increasingly evident when The Latin Rascals produced a remix of Duran Duran's "Notorious" and The Pet Shop Boys' hit smash, "Domino Dancing" produced by Lewis A. Martinee, who produced many of Expose's hits. When there's so much information run together, it becomes confusing. This looks like the Latin Rascals remixed two songs, but then it goes on to give different producer information for the second one. I cut the part about the Pet Shop Boys song, because it doesn't make sense. If you add that back, please make it clear, and don't try to jam more stuff into a single sentence than will fit. Dementia13 (talk) 00:11, 7 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Aftermath: Jordin Sparks' 2009 single "S.O.S. (Let The Music Play)" can be considered part of the freestyle genre due to its use of a sample from the song, "Let The Music Play", by Shannon.
 * Three problems here. First, there's a reference, but it doesn't support the entirety of that statement, all it says is that the sample is used. The reference doesn't support the statement, and it's not what would be considered a reliable reference, either. Now, a sample could be just a single drum hit, so it's not necessarily true that if a song samples a freestyle song, the new song is freestyle. It might be, but you need to come up with a reference that is from a reliable source, and specifically backs up your claim. Dementia13 (talk) 00:50, 7 September 2012 (UTC)

 * Aftermath:  the single, "What I'm Feeling", which with 63 plays was the most played single in a single day on WKTU. This needs a reliable citation. Wikipedia has a policy of "notability", which says that if an event was not reported by reliable third-party sources, it didn't draw enough attention to be included here. This statement implies that 63 plays in a single day is evidence of freestyle's popularity, but there are other reasons why that could happen, so that needs backed up by a citation. If there are none, it has to be deleted. Dementia13 (talk) 17:50, 11 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Aftermath: The Black Eyed Peas often use freestyle lyrics, There's a section here about characteristics of freestyle music, but is there really such a thing as "freestyle lyrics"? If there's a defining characteristic of freestyle lyrics, that should be in the article. Otherwise, this is just some fluff. Bullfluff. Dementia13 (talk) 18:13, 11 September 2012 (UTC)
 * California: Jaya was one of the first Filipina-American freestyle singers, I can't name any Filipina-American singers other than those I learned about editing this article. She might not just be the first Filipina-American freestyle singer, she might be the first Filipina-American with a hit record. That would be worth looking into. Dementia13 (talk) 22:01, 11 September 2012 (UTC)
 * New York/Miami: Think about this: freestyle mainly developed in these two cities, so the early development of freestyle in these two cities is the origin of freestyle itself. Material in these sections that discusses the music's early history should be moved into the part of the main article that talks about its origins. Especially since you've got the "Origins 1981-1983" section that goes on to 1990. The parts about freestyle's early development should be moved out of these sections and into the "Origins" section, which should live up to its name and cover only until 1983, then a new section after "Origins" should cover the music's era of peak popularity. Dementia13 (talk) 23:36, 11 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Miami: At the end of the section, the topic suddenly shifts to New York.

Latin Emphasis marginalizes African American core
Shannon was not Latin was she? Sure the music was predominately Latin but that lead totally excludes African Americans, goes so far to include Italians. Sure Lisa Lisa was Latin but was everyone on the Freestyle scene Latin? The group behind Lisa Lisa was who, not Full Force (where they Latin)? So this Latin exclusivity thing is not a NPOV. --Inayity (talk) 17:12, 25 January 2013 (UTC)

holyoke/chicopee/springfield scene?
it might be worthwhile including a holyoke/chicopee/springfield section to the freestyle article. it seems that a disproportionate number of active freestyle artists have ties to the "pioneer valley" area (freeze, pose, phillip anthony, etc.). or perhaps there should be a "western massachusetts/connecticut" section. several prominent freestyle artists come from connecticut (including jennifer jimenez, I THink). jose (cpr) ortiz hosts a freestyle countdown show on springfield technical community college radio. it is supposed to be a "national" countdown ("the only countdown that matters"). but it seems that an unusual number of artists on the "chart" come from the springfield area or from connecticut. perhaps this isn't merely a result of "local" bias. this may be where the freestyle scene (or at least a substantial part of it) has shifted.

Freestyle, or Latin freestyle (initially called Latin hip hop) is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in the New York metropolitan area, Boston, Philadelphia, and Miami, primarily among Hispanic Americans, Irish Americans, and Italian Americans in the 1980s. It experienced its greatest popularity from the late 1980s until the early 1990s. A common theme of freestyle lyricism originated as heartbreak in an urban environment typified by New York City.

List of freestyle artists
Anyone think there should be a list of freestyle artists in the article or as a separate Wikipedia article? There are many notable freestyle artists not mentioned in the article which is understandable since it would clutter the article, but if I want to find a freestyle artist and their song quickly which is what a lot of people may be looking for then there should be a list of them. Some artists that were not mentioned in the article were Nocera, Dino, Sweet Sensations, Seduction, Angelina, Buffy, Nyasia, Giggles, Cynthia, Johnny O, Regina, and many more.Aamma58 (talk) 13:29, 25 June 2020 (UTC)Aamma58

Boston scenes/Holyoke-Chicopee-Springfield-Westfield Scenes
New Kids on the Block, Bobby Brown, Planet Patrol, Willie Valentin, Jose "CPR" Ortiz, Freeze

Wiki Education assignment: Digital Cultures
— Assignment last updated by RoccNRoll (talk) 00:39, 15 March 2024 (UTC)

Freestyle music
Freestyle, or Latin freestyle (initially called Latin hip hop) is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in the New York metropolitan area, Boston, Philadelphia, and Miami, primarily among Hispanic Americans, Irish Americans, and Italian Americans in the 1980s. It experienced its greatest popularity from the late 1980s until the early 1990s. A common theme of freestyle lyricism originated as heartbreak in an urban environment typified by New York City. 24.46.160.77 (talk) 04:16, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

Freestyle music
Freestyle, or Latin freestyle (initially called Latin hip hop) is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in the New York metropolitan area, Boston, Philadelphia, and Miami, primarily among Hispanic Americans, Irish Americans, and Italian Americans in the 1980s. It experienced its greatest popularity from the late 1980s until the early 1990s. A common theme of freestyle lyricism originated as heartbreak in an urban environment typified by New York City. 24.46.162.215 (talk) 18:00, 15 May 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Freestyle music