• iTunes - a free player that has all the Apple qualities: looks great, is easy to use, does all you need. The only downside is that it won't play protected WMA files
  
  
• Microsoft MediaPlayer 10 - a free player that keeps getting better & better. If you use Windows XP, stick with this unless it lacks a feature that you must have
  
  
• WinAmp 5 - a popular free choice if you hate Microsoft, and you don't buy protected tracks... Personally, I find it to be awkward and ugly. To rip/encode MP3s and burn CDs you'll need the $14.95 pro version
  
  
• Sonique - popular free audio player for Windows capable of handling MP3 files, audio CDs, and WMA formats.
  
  
• XMMS - an free open-source MP3 player for Linux, similar to WinAmp
  
  
• Jet Audio - an free player, very attractive, with many nice features like karaoke, tag editing & alarm/timer
  
  
• MuzicMan- an audio extractor to extract the music off a CD, an MP3 encoder to compress the extracted audio and an organizer and player to play the music. $18.95 - download a free trial version
  
  
• Zoom Player - similar to WinAmp, is free, and plays all the main formats. The $19.95 pro version can play DRM protected tracks
  
  
• Which is most popular? FreeDB.org has some current statistics

• AudioGrabber - very popular and free.
  
  
• CDex - a player thXXXXXCD players
  
  
• Exact Audio Copy - a player thXXXXXCD players
  
  
• Quintessential Player - if you install the correct plug-ins, can be used to play (and record) Real, Shoutcast and Windows Media streams. Free
  
  
• iRad
• iRadio - rip your favourite music from different Internet radio stations over the world. Our software allows you to collect your music in mp3 format, find radios by given criteria, make mp3 and audio CDs. From $14.95
  
  

• RazorLAME - a free front end for the open source LAME MP3 encoder. Drag and drop WAV files to automatically convert them to MP3
  
  
• LameFE - as above, but for LAME MP3, OGG & Monkeys Audio codecs
  
  
• Audacity - Great for converting between major formats, and also good for extracting audio from analog sources, like old records and cassettes.
  

Tip: It's best not to convert from one lossy format to another. To avoid distortion, start with a WAV file wherever possible.

• Virtual Turntables - use MP3s as a DJing medium - for professional and hobby DJs alike
  
  
• Deejaysystems - a player that is a plain, precise and reliable emulation of real DJ-CD players
  
  
• DJ Mix Pro - designed to let you choose the songs while it performs by itself quality cross fading, beat matching mixes between songs.

  DJ Mix Pro has built in Beatlock Technology, that makes it beat-aware. This technology does not alter your sound files, it just analyses them to find the BPM.

• DJ2000 - manages your MP3 collection much like a jukebox. You can search your collection for specific songs, artists, and types of music. Has a safe party mode. Includes a player. $19.95 - download the demo