Music File Downloading Services (1 Viewer)

[Rob Landolfi]

I never got into song/file downloading back when Napster was the rage, but am now interested in getting songs from the web. I'm looking to make CD-mixes, and I don't have an mp3 player.

I've seen various services offering unlimited downloads for $1 per month, $1 per song, and a number of other price levels. Does anyone have any guidance or suggestions on what I should look for in a service, or things to be wary of? It seems difficult to go wrong with a service that only charges a buck a month (if legit), but I wasn't sure if it is too good to be true or not. Any recommended sites/services? Thanks

 

[BrianB]

I haven't seen any site offer unlimited downloads for $1 a month. $1 per song, yes, but not $1 per month. I know there are sub sites out there now that are little more than wrappers around the likes of kazaa. Not a good thing to sign upto.

Personally, I'm a subscriber to eMusic - it's $10 a month (with a 12 month sub), with "unlimited" downloads (in reality, over around 2000 in a 30 day period will get the management annoyed) of regular 129k VBR mp3s, with unlimited burning "rights" etc. Of course, the big caveat is that it doesn't feature the major label catalogues - you won't find U2 or Britney Spears there, it's much more about indie/alternative labels like Invisible Records or Beggars Banquet. They've got a great jazz/blues/classical catalogue too.

But it's definitely not for everybody.

iTunes is probably the best of the "major label" setups, but it's Mac only at this time.

 

[Rob Landolfi]

Good info. I'm looking to do maybe dozens of songs total vice thousands each month.

A couple sites that turned up in my search are:

Easy Music Download and

MP3 Download City

They purport to offer unlimited downloads for $30 for two years and $25 for life, respectively, and have a large catalog to choose from. Both require a software download and that's what made me come here for advice... losing $30 and learning a lesson isn't as big a deal as opening myself up to problems Norton AV and AdAware/SpyBot could have a tough time dealing with. I also want to do this the right way, and wasn't sure if these sites (or others like them) are on "the dark side," or if they're truly legit.

I read an article somewhere recently about a company that bought Napster's name (for recognition) and would be offering download subscription services for a price. They had the recording industry's permission, though maybe not their blessing.

 

[Steve_Ch]

For PC folks, listen.com's Rhasody (IMO) is good. $24.95 every 3 months, and I think .79 if you want to "burn" a track.

 

[Dave Bennett]

I realize it's not available on the PC yet, but Apple's iTunes music store is really great.They have a really wide selection and you are allowed to burn a CD from tracks downloaded(which then allows you to rerip as MP3 if you want )
iTunes is coming out for windows in the future I hear and I'd imagine they'll bring the Music store to iTunes for windows so you've got another service to look forward to.

 

[RickLe]

There are many newsgroups out there that offer free downloads, or try a newsgroup download service like www.easynews.com for under $10 a month and download, movies, music, computer games, software and a bunch more.

 

[Brent_H]

why pay for music when the RIAA is being a b*tch and suing for rediculous amounts of money? thus, driving their customers further and further away. all the more reason to download and not buy. thats right.

 

[Dave Bennett]

Well for one, stuff of questionable legality is frowned upon here so I didn't mention any "other" options
But seriously, for artists I really like I find it hard to find full albums of anything that could be considered "good" quality any other way than the iTunes store. That and conveinence. I'd much rather shell out 9 bucks for an album and have it in minutes than spend half the night searching for it for free only to come up with a track or two at most.

 

[Brent_H]

i hear ya Dave...and in fact, I have bought more music in the last six months than in my entire life. if i like it, i buy it. well, being that i want to go into the business side of the music.....business....i have a vested interest in paying for my music i guess...

 

[BrianB]

MP3downloadcity does not own any software found on the site

Essentially, they're "wrappers" for the likes of kazaa. If you're going down that route, why bother pay?

If it sounds too good to be true, it (usually) is.

 

[Rob Landolfi]

Thanks for the info. Dave, you're right, a buck a song or so is fine and I can have it now with no malware being put on my system.

Though I've heard of Kazaa and others, I never checked them out as I knew they were bad, and I didn't want to go down that road. Brian, you're right, it sounded too good and I'm naive in this area. I'll give listen.com a try.

Have a good one.

 

[Cees Alons]

Please, do not discuss downloading bootlegs or illegal music tracks. Our rules are very clear about that.
We will have to close this thread and take other punitive actions if it happens again.

Cees

 

[Rob Landolfi]

I found the exact info I was looking for in PC Magazine's August 5, 2003 issue, page 138: "Music Services: Paying the Piper." They rated several different legit services and their Editor's Choice was Real.com's Rhapsody (aka listen.com) service offering. Thanks for the info.

 

[Phil_O]

Kazaa Lite is what you need.

 

[MikeAlletto]

Though I've heard of Kazaa and others, I never checked them out as I knew they were bad

Kazaa is not illegal or bad. If you want to d/l and install Kazaa use the lite version http://www.k-lite.tk/

It has been proven in the courts that P2P software is NOT illegal, no matter what the RIAA and others want to scare you into thinking.