I got nothing – and a bleg
Nothing to talk about today. So, I’ll ask you:
What’s the best music download site? I don’t like Napster because, even though it’s a monthly fee, I don’t actually own the tune.
I hate itunes because Apple does what it always does which is to modify the MP3 files so that they’re proprietary and, therefore, generally fucking useless in other applications. That’s why I’ll never own anything ever created by Apple.
Update: Maddox agrees that apple sucks. And what is with the whole quicktime, itunes install. It really attaches its retarded self to the whole operating system.
March 8th, 2007 at 10:59 am
I used to be a fan of AllofMP3.com despite it’s questionable legality (as far as I can tell, it followed all laws and the RIAA was just whiny) thanks to its low prices and friendly user rights, but now it’s nearly impossible to actually put money into it. If you are willing to deal with the hassle of finding a credit or gift card method that’ll transfer to them, they’ve got a massive selection and very low prices, but you may end up with a moral quandary. I also suggest using a junk yahoo account, since some people have gotten spam from them.
eMusic is completely legal, very cheap, and has no digital rights management software included. For about 10 USD/month, you get 40 songs and can do whatever you want with the music they have. That said, because of their lack of DRM, the big four groups won’t do business with them, and that cuts out a lot of rock and rap music. A lot of their selection is good, but there are holes. Their site also has had strange uptime issues.
If you want to avoid DRM, those are pretty much your only major choices, other than simply doing it completely illegally.
March 8th, 2007 at 11:22 am
Gr… sorry for the double post.
If you are willing to deal with some minor DRM, there are other choices.
URGE By the Track downloads exist forever, can be burned or moved to whatever you want to do, and generally don’t let the DRM get in the way too much. The wide selection is good, if you don’t mind slightly higher prices and the DRM.
Rhapsody uses the slightly older PlaysForSure DRM on individually purchased files. Likewise, the DRM isn’t particularly bad, and there’s a wide selection. I’m personally not a fan of the Rhapsody player, particularly when I can use URGE and WMP11, but other people don’t mind this.
March 8th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
There is software that will strip the DRM from Itunes songs you buy, you can then easily convert them to MP3.
March 8th, 2007 at 1:13 pm
allofmp3.com and fugomp3.com if you don’t mind the legal grey area.
March 8th, 2007 at 1:41 pm
Dont blame Apple for the DRM problems. The music companies forced it upon them as a condition of the iTunes and iPod deal. Steve Jobs likess it as much as you do and has spoken out about it from time to time. Still, it is a royal PIA.
March 8th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
I think you can bypass Quicktime installation by having Quicktime Alternative installed first. It’s a slightly better option.
QuickTime is teh ebal.
March 8th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
As I read this on my MacBook Pro, I have to admit I laughed:
Stupid user base aside, I will never own a Mac. It’s not so much that I’m a PC loyalist. I’m not. It’s that I’m not stylish enough to own one. Most iPod commercials feature guys with long hair, chicks roller skating, and guys wearing fedoras. I have dandruff, and I buy most of my jeans from a grocery store. I feel like in order to have a Mac, I need to be:
# An artist.
# In a band.
# Unemployed (see above).
After the recent Apple conference, Mac fans were elated. One person was quoted as saying “I’ve had a Macintosh now for a total of 35 days, and I’m really excited to be part of the Mac community.” Part of the Mac community? It’s a computer, not a social movement, asshole!
It’s true, I don’t feel stylish enough to own a Mac either, but I have used them off and on since college when they used to require all incoming freshman to buy one. Today their marketing definitely isn’t intended to reach folks like me.
But MacOS X, which all the stylish people think is so fantastic, isn’t really anything new. I was using MacOS X years ago when it was called NeXTStep, and ran on overpriced 68040 powered cubes, rather than running on an overpriced Intel PCs like it does now 🙂
But I always thought NeXTStep was pretty cool, I mean, BSD Unix with a nice user interface on top of it. You can’t really beat that. It’s still cool even though they’ve candied it up to look more like MacOS 🙂
March 8th, 2007 at 4:57 pm
I was one of the few who bought an iBook because it does have a Unix-relationship. (It also has a six hour battery life, which was double what my old laptop had.)
Even I hate those commercials. They make me want to throw this freaking iBook away. Or put Linux on this thing. That’ll show those stupid Mac-heads!
Well, at least I should be able to out-nerd them any day of the weak.
March 8th, 2007 at 6:47 pm
ITMS doesn’t “modify mp3 files”. They’re AAC files, and always have been.
The problem is, nobody can sell you legitimate copies of major label music in non-DRM MP3 format. The labels won’t allow it, and they control the licensing.
(And what gatt said about Urge or Rhapsody downloads is equally true of ITMS ones. You can burn a CD and then rip that to non-DRM MP3.
It is technically illegal but morally pretty much harmless to buy the music from ITMS and then just download MP3s from the internet.)
March 8th, 2007 at 10:29 pm
1. Buy CDs used on ebay. Never bid more than $4 (total, with shipping included).
2. Stick CD into PC
3. Rip tracks to mp3. Put CD back in case and then place the case into storage.
4. Smile, you’ve got the songs without any DRM, so you will likely be able to play it on any future music player you will ever own in the future, forever.
5. Even if you’ve got some strange urge to listen to one obscure song, without bothering to track down the entire album (like, say, “They Might Be Giants” cover of Istanbul (not Constantinople)), never, under any circumstances do a Google search such as this.
March 9th, 2007 at 12:50 am
Step 1. Install NewsRover
Step 2. Enter Artist Title, Song Name etc in MP3 Music search and fetch.
UseNet service e.g., GigaNews required.