Ecards (also spelled as e card or e-card) are fast becoming a popular way to send greetings to others, on major holidays, birthdays, and just whenever the mood strikes. A trend occurring in the 2000s was to send cards through email that featured animation on the card and also had music. Such music included things like traditional birthday or Christmas songs, but now there’s much more range to choose from. Musical ecards have evolved to feature music sure to please a variety of musical tastes.
While early musical ecards tended to feature songs that usually weren’t that recognizable, today’s choices of accompanying music are varied. People can find sites that offer cards featuring popular modern songs or they may pick from genres like county and western, rhythm and blues, rock, gospel and many others. The focus of the card may be just as much on the music chosen as it is on any visuals and messages. For instance, classic romantic songs might be chosen to accompany Valentine’s Day or anniversary cards.
There are some very special musical ecards that feature different kinds of music that isn’t particularly well-known. For example, a musical ecard could have samples of Native American music. Alternately, people choosing cards could send other tunes from across the world that are inspired by regional music traditions.
Some musical ecards do cost a small amount of money to send, and depending upon the company creating the card, the money might be donated. For instance, a few companies offer orchestral music from famous orchestras and donate proceeds of card sales to charities benefiting local music programs for kids. Other sites simply profit from selling ecards, and there are many sites that offer free musical ecards.
Savvy programmers can use a variety of programs to make their own music to send as part of musical ecards. Others attach music files from popular artists. It should be noted that file sharing might be illegal and violate copyright status of music. Reputable sites that offer free ecards tend to use only those songs that will not violate copyright, or give a portion of sales of the cards to the artist.
There are some cautions regarding using ecard sites. Since the early 2000s, ecards have occasionally been scams, used to collect personal information or transmit viruses. People receiving an ecard should type in the company website instead of clicking on links, which might take the user to a dummy website instead. Another caution from fraud organizations is to make certain not to give out personal information like address or phone number when receiving a card. Most card companies don’t require people to register in order to view a card sent to them.