hey can someone point me in the right direction here? i want to be able to make a beat tape available for download. what is the program that i can use to put all the songs as seperate files together into one folder. i want to be able to upload a file in "album format". you know what i mean? thanks

Winrar?
I use Izarc, it's a free alternative for archiving.
Not sure what exactly you mean, sorry...

ya sorry man ive been up late and im super stoned i cant really say what i mean. my brain is like mush. i just spent 5 hours mixing this tape. but i just want to make these songs available for you to download as a package. you know, one download, but all the songs. and even throw in a cover art if i had one. after i get some rest ill be back to better explain myself i feel like a rambling idiot. good day sir.

No need.
Here, you can use this program:

http://www.izarc.org/

Hope I helped

Throw it all in a zip file and get yourself a mediafire account.

http://www.mediafire.com/

Download Mp3Tag. It's free. It will let you tag all of your files with album, artist, title, track number, year, etc. You can also associate a picture with each file (That's how you get the album cover to pop up in a media player or on your iPod-type device) and you can create .m3u files with it, which are the most common type of playlist.

You put all the stuff you want people to download as one big file into one folder--make sure the picture is in there when you associate it with the tracks--compress it and upload it.

The other trick is finding a site to host such a big file. I'm trying to think of a way that I could use my band's website to host the larger mixes from the SP-Forums. If I can create the right kind of account access I'd love to set it up for people around here.

cool thanks yall

Bandcamp is good for hosting music, as they FORCE you to upload high-quality .wav files. then they allow the user to choose which format they want to download (128kbs, 320kbs, flac whatever). and its a nice ad free layout