[muckshot]

I searched around a bit but didn't find anything relevant so I hope this isn't redundant, but I am looking for some legal music download sites that offer either lossless (s/a FLAC, APE etc) or WAV files. CD-quality + DRM Free is the only way I'm going to make the transition to digital downloads.

Boomkat - Offers FLAC downloads for many releases. Good selection of indie and electronic music but price is a bit high, I find I can often get the actual CDs/12''s for about the same cost. Small cover art included.

Junodownloads - Offers WAV as an option, pricing seems to be about the same as Boomkat. Large cover art available without purchase.

Bleep - Offers FLAC for selected releases but I can't seem to find out how locate FLAC specific files. No album art included.

Beatport - Offers WAV option for ALL files, but costs incurs an extra $1 USD for each WAV file. This means that an album that has 15 tracks and costs $17 will actually cost $32 as there will be an added $15 cost for the WAV files. No album art included.

So far I've made purchases from Bleep, Beatport and Boomkat. The experience has been positive overall, although Beatport could easily zip or FLAC up their files and offer some kind of checksum (SFV for ex) so that you know your download is free from errors, as such the WAVs are downloaded directly.

Would love to add some sites to the list... suggestions welcome

 

[tot]

Magnatune

 

[OverlordXenu]

Isn't there some British record store that also does online downloads, and offers master-quality FLAC?

 

[fiftiesdean]

do you like jam bands at all?

 

[rhymesgalore]

Quote:

Originally Posted by OverlordXenu /img/forum/go_quote.gif Isn't there some British record store that also does online downloads, and offers master-quality FLAC?

Linn Records

 

[OverlordXenu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhymesgalore /img/forum/go_quote.gif Linn Records

Yeah, that was it.

 

[big_lou]

Quote:

Originally Posted by muckshot /img/forum/go_quote.gif I searched around a bit but didn't find anything relevant so I hope this isn't redundant, but I am looking for some legal music download sites that offer either lossless (s/a FLAC, APE etc) or WAV files. CD-quality + DRM Free is the only way I'm going to make the transition to digital downloads. Boomkat - Offers FLAC downloads for many releases. Good selection of indie and electronic music but price is a bit high, I find I can often get the actual CDs/12''s for about the same cost. Small cover art included. Junodownloads - Offers WAV as an option, pricing seems to be about the same as Boomkat. Large cover art available without purchase. Bleep - Offers FLAC for selected releases but I can't seem to find out how locate FLAC specific files. No album art included. Beatport - Offers WAV option for ALL files, but costs incurs an extra $1 USD for each WAV file. This means that an album that has 15 tracks and costs $17 will actually cost $32 as there will be an added $15 cost for the WAV files. No album art included. So far I've made purchases from Bleep, Beatport and Boomkat. The experience has been positive overall, although Beatport could easily zip or FLAC up their files and offer some kind of checksum (SFV for ex) so that you know your download is free from errors, as such the WAVs are downloaded directly. Would love to add some sites to the list... suggestions welcome

You might be posting in the wrong forum. Try this:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=260674

 

[muckshot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by big_lou /img/forum/go_quote.gif You might be posting in the wrong forum. Try this: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=260674

Quite right, thanks for the heads-up.

Many thanks to all who responded so far--- I had no idea you could get master quality releases!

 

[krmathis]

Check out this thread.

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=260674

Edit: Ooops, seems I were a bit too late... he he

 

[ILikeMusic]

If being in compliance with all US copyright regulations (which sometimes is like trying to be in compliance with all traffic laws

) is a requirement than there isn't much to choose from among download vendors unless you are willing to accept a very limited subset of selections. You can get just about any CD you want on Half.com for less than it would cost to download the music, plus you actually have a selection to choose from, plus you own the media. Given your requirements I would find it tough to make a case for bothering with download at all.

 

[muckshot]

Lucky for me, the music I like tends to come from small independent labels... by 'legal', I meant to describe sites that pay the artists revenue for downloads (as opposed to Allofmp3 type operations).

I buy most of my music used off eBay and get the rest from online vendors and local record shops. Digital music downloads have huge potential and although it will be some time before they reach fruition, there are a number of pioneering sites/labels/distributors who have woken up to the demand for lossless audio with at least as much freedom as one had with a commercial CD.

So long as the price is right, the artists get paid and the files are CD-quality and free from crippling DRM schemes, I'd quite happily forfeit physical media in exchange for the ability to buy music in my underwear at 4AM.

 

[Drag0n]

Dont know too much about this one,but my friend likes it.

www.bearshare.com

 

[muckshot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drag0n /img/forum/go_quote.gif Dont know too much about this one,but my friend likes it. www.bearshare.com

Bearshare's subsrcription based "premium" audio are lossy WMV files and are protected with Playsforsure DRM. Thanks but no thanks!

Bearshare used to be a standard P2P client... and riddled with spyware if I remember correctly

 

[muckshot]

From Wikipedia:

"Since BearShare 6, the program is malware-free and cannot be used anymore to download arbitrary files. Instead, BearShare offers paid music downloads in the DRMed WMA format as well as free content in MP3 format. The free MP3 content is shared by users and is automatically verified by BearShare not to infringe. This verification is done using an acoustic filter."

No lossless though...

 

[Solan]

Poeten.no - Her laster du ned musikk (lovlig)