Needing some how-to music advice please

[Taffycat]

I'm hoping that some kind soul(s) might be able to offer advice to this music-download novice please...

I don't own any kind of MP3 player, as we still enjoy playing CDs in the conventional way - that isn't to say I'm not interested in trying one at some point. Ideally though, I'd like to dip a toe into legally downloading some music, hopefully to burn a CD or two ... I'm thinking that it would be handy to stick to a format I'm already familiar with, just for starters.

Naturally I've heard of i-tunes, and I have 'Googled' of course.... but so many results come up that I'm a bit wary about what is legal and what is not. I'm guessing that it's a fair bet that paid-for music will, by and large be ok...? But are there any legal free downloads too (I absolutely don't mind paying, but something legal and free would be useful to practise with, until I get the hang of it.) Is it even possible to get downloads which would be suitable for burning to CD/DVD, I am a bit confused when I look at the formats (most seem to be intended for MP3.... I think?) These questions probably sound naff, but I've honestly only used CDs/DVDs for backing up stuff from the PC, or for photos, never for music.... mostly because we've always had a dial-up internet connection until recently.)

My musical taste is pretty wide, our current CD collection ranges from rock and pop to classical (yes the violin and cello stuff ) with lots of weird and wonderful stuff in-between ... I'm a bit of a musical 'tart' I guess Any clarification and helpful advice would be much appreciated ... thank you

 

[Anon_F]

I'm very interested in the outcome of this post.
I to would like to download music & apart from iTunes i dont know of any other companies.
Will lurk in the back and see what others post.

 

[Taffycat]

Glad I'm not the only one, that makes me feel better Oh and please feel free to 'hi-jack' with questions of your own Feckit - if we get any answers that is

By the way, this morning I learned that Play-com is now offering music downloads (about 70p per track, or less if you purchase a whole album.) It looks like it's a fairly new thing for them.

 

[floppybootstomp]

I've only ever paid for downloads through I-Tunes where a single track costs 79p.

I've purchased a whole two tracks so far

I much prefer to actually own the CD and rip to mp3 from that, which is what I do mostly. That way you can choose the quality/size of your compressed music.

Only prob with I-Tunes is that their music comes in m4a format which only some players (obviously I-Tunes being one of them) can play. I have software to convert m4a files to mp3 and there is probably free software out there that can do the job but it is a consideration.

I don't know of any other sites but I'd hazard a guess that HMV & Virgin supply such a service. And lots of bands' own websites will sell their music direct. And Amazon may be worth checking out.

 

[muckshifter]

great topic ...

There are loads of "on-line" stores ... hell, even Tesco are in on the act.


http://arts.guardian.co.uk/netmusic/page/0,,1127237,00.html

That's just one site, but it covers the major players, pun intended.

The reason for MP3 ? quite an easy question ... it's a compressed format, still sounds good, audio heads can say what they like, is able to play on a host of players including, of course, your PC. MP3 ain't CD quality!

Be aware, however, that most, if not all, will come with some sort of DRM (Digital Rights Management), stands to reason, they need to 'protect' their intellectual property. The basic idea is to prevent wholesale copying & sharing. This can lead to some errors, like iTune's fiasco, too intent in monopolising and binding you in to their way of doing things.

Microsoft has built-in DRM into WMP, I add, under pressure from the money grabbing industry.

I still prefer to get me "CDs" from the music store, actually, I've never downloaded any music.

Final note: Unless you are a music buff, say in Floppy's old trade as a DJ, I would tend to stay away from the monthly fees and just pay-as-you-go. As with a phone contract, read the bloody small print, twice.




PS, keep this thread on track folks.

 

[Abarbarian]

I was goint to direct you here as they have some wacky music , but ,

http://www.legaltorrents.com/index.html

However you can get full CDs of totaly free music here,

http://www.jamendo.com/en/

You can listen before you buy here with a lot of CDs only $5 , no DRM here,

http://magnatune.com/

The oldest on-line digital music community here with free CDs for download ,

http://www.dmusic.com/

An just for you Taffycat ,

http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/samplesViewSingle.php?id=4914

 

[Anon_F]

The last one Abarbarian just got my youngest cat up off her bed!!!!

 

[Abarbarian]

The last one Abarbarian just got my youngest cat up off her bed!!!!

 

[Taffycat]

Light is now beginning to dawn... thank you Flopps and Mucks it would make good sense for me to also rip tracks from some of our CD collection to burn compilations of our favourites. I also rather like the idea now of getting an mp3 player (it hadn't quite sunk in that our existing music could be transferred to that format I thought we would have to download mp3 music from the internet, specifically.... oh dear, what a dummy.) Hee hee, liking the idea a lot

Abarbarian - our cats are now looking worried, so don't know what feline messages were being passed on the "Cat Sounds" link (and Terry almost jumped out of his chair too, because I'd forgotten to reduce the volume after listening to something else earlier )

Thank you for the links, there are some interesting sounds on those websites you've recommended I've already been listening to a few Liking Magnatune... but not finished "exploring" yet