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Does anyone subscribe to music download sites?

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JCOSU86

JCOSU86

Go Buckeyes!
Staff member
    • There seems to be a proliferation of paid-download-music sites recently; Urge, Rhapsody, Yahoo music, iTunes, etc.

    Which ones do you guys and gals subscribe to or recommend? What's the best, worst etc?
     
    P2P - I use Soulseek - it works best for people who have somewhat left-of-center preferences and don't mind waiting a long time for downloads to initiate.

    Paid - I use Allofmp3.com. It's based out of Russia and is super-cheap (about 15 cents per song at 192kbps), but because of industry pressure, most people's debit or credit cards won't go through on that site. Mine still works though, and it has most everything I want.

    Paid - I also use iTunes - I have an 80GB iPod, and subscribe to a number of podcasts. I will download the occasional video or song from there, but it is usually my last option. I like that when I download from here, I know it is going to work seamlessly with my iPod and be of tolerable sound quality. I don't like the proprietary file format though (and refuse to pay an additional premium for DRM-free files). I prefer to have my entire collection in mp3 format (just to keep things simple) and burning my iTunes downloads to a CD and then ripping them to mp3 is a pesky chore.

    I haven't really tried any of the others. Working in consumer electronics and selling mp3 players for a living, I've heard more than my share of stories about various digital music services that are proprietary or bad in one way or another. I wouldn't buy from anywhere that doesn't let you "own" your purchase and do with it as you would be able to if you had purchased it on a physical medium.
     
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    Not a site, but I use napster.. download songs in under 5 seconds, recomendations and professionally filled out bios, discographies, etc., solid GUI.. my only beef was the DRM couldnt be broke and there was no way to burn CDs.. fixed that. Best quailty, real song names and artists(no limewire BS), has most popular songs for ones you only know the artist name or vice versa.. great stuff.
     
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    I'll add that if you pay a monthly subscription instead of per song, you likely will not own your downloads and will not be able to burn them to a CD or make use of them if you choose to end your subscription. I'm pretty sure Rhapsody does that with their subscription service.
     
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    CCI;867328; said:
    Me 2, I had used Napstar but I stopped my account. I had to pay for the songs to put on my mp3 playa.
    Click to expand...
    No, you need a program to remove the DRM.. there out there.. i burn my high-quality napster files non-stop.. i cant stand limewire and wrong names and shitty organaztion

    the way to do it is bittorrents though.. you get full albums in about 10-15 minutes
     
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    [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Legal Music Downloads[/FONT]​
    [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]These three sites listed below all have huge selections giving us just about everything we searched for, easy to use and understanding music downloading software, fast access to high-speed servers and great customer service to assist with any problems. So if you are planning on spending money to download legal music online, then these are the music websites you need to use. [/FONT]​

    [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Snappy-Music[/FONT]
    [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]*Top Pick Of 2007* [/FONT]

    [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Click Here To Join Snappy-Music[/FONT]    [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Snappy-Music is a great new service that is quickly becoming very popular due to their great service. They allow you to download unlimited music for a very low monthly fee. They have a huge database of millions of songs and their download speeds and sound quality of songs are incredible! Their customer support is also great with a agent available 24-hours a day online or via their toll-free number. This company is the best by far and it would be very hard for any company to compete with it given their low membership prices. We highly recommend this company and are sure you will also recommend it to your friends![/FONT]
    [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Music Selection:[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]5/5[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Download Speed:[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]5/5[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Ease of use:[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]5/5[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Customer Support:[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]5/5[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Real Rhapsody[/FONT]

    [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Click Here To Join Rhapsody[/FONT]     [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Real Rhapsody is slightly different than Snappy-Music. With Real, you have to pay on a per song or per album basis rather than having a one-time membership fee and downloading unlimited music. They do have a free trial plan where if you're not happy with it, you can cancel with no cost to you what so ever. They have a large selection but you wont find every old song before the 70's. Download speeds are good and customer support was helpful. Fairly easy service to use but can be costly if you download a lot of music.[/FONT]
    [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Music Selection:[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]3/5[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Download Speed:[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]4/5[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Ease of use:[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]4/5[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Customer Support:[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]4/5[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Yahoo Music[/FONT]

    [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Click Here To Join Yahoo Music[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Yahoo Music has improved over time but still have some ways to go to catch up with newer services. They do have a membership plan for unlimited downloads but you can't burn any music or take it on the go unless you pay an additional fee for each song. If you plan on just listening to music on one computer, this would be fine but if you plan on adding music to your iPod or playing it in your car the cost can start to add up. Their music selection is good and customer support is just "ok".[/FONT]
    [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]UPDATE: Yahoo Music recently closed, we recommend you join Snappy-Music.com.[/FONT]​

    [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Music Selection:[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]4/5[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Download Speed:[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]3/5[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Ease of use:[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]3/5[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Customer Support:[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]3/5[/FONT]
     
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    Top 5 Sites For DRM-Free Music Plus 2 Dishonorable Mentions

    1. Amazon - All DRM free - all the time. 2.3 million mp3's from EMI and Universal and a ton of indies at variable prices from $.89 to $.99 with most albums from $4.99 to $9.99. Blame selection problems on the labels; not Amazon.
    2. eMusic - Until Amazon, these guys were #1, but with some labels leaving and competitors expanding, how long will eMusic stay #2? For now, you have to subscribe and won't find any major labels; but if you like indie music you can't beat $.33 per song or less ...which of course is why some labels are leaving.
    3. WalMart - Yup, WalMart.com. There's no indie product available (and they can't blame shelf space), but lots of tracks from both EMI and Universal and most of them are priced at a low $.88.
    4. Real/Rhapsody - These guys do music subscriptions and streaming better than anyone. On the DRM-free front, however, you'll only find limited major label mp3's. But their CEO was brave enough to be the first to publicaly call for DRM free and with the recent partnership with MTV, you can expect interesting changes ahead. Next time Hypebot publishes this list Rhapsody could be #3 or even #2.
    5. 7Digital - I'd rank this innovative UK digital retailer in the Top 2 or 3 if they would just add purchases in US dollars and perhaps euros. But more than half of their extensive catalog is in mp3's with lots of unique offerings. Worth a look even if you get slammed by your credit card company for the conversion.
    DISHONORABLE MENTIONS -
    iTunes - Way back in February Steve Jobs railed against DRM and called on record labels to drop it. Now 8 months later iTunes has made virtually no indie product available DRM-free and the major label label it does sell without copy protection is in the less than universal AAC format.
    Napster - No DRM free product at all. When asked why ,they said they'd change when enough was available so that multiple formats didn't confuse the customer. But Amazon and eMusic each found than 2 million+ DRM-free tracks, and WalMart and Rhapsody found ways to inform consumers.
     
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    scooter1369;867834; said:
    I have an account with iTunes, but its a "gift card" only account. They don't have any of my banking info and never have.

    when I decide I want a new tune, I buy a card at Kroger when I'm grocery shopping and use it
    Click to expand...

    great idea!


    ORD_Buckeye;870779; said:
    I love my ipod and, for that reason, buy music from itunes. That being said, the new Media Player absolutely blows itunes away as a desktop music organizer/player.
    Click to expand...

    Since I have an IPOD now I like the itunes alot better than medya player.
     
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