[CybrFrettr]

I know of iTunes. Are there any other good sites on the Net where I can legally download mp3 files? I just got a new iRiver HP120. For example, I am interested in the new Slipknot and Killswitch Engage albums but would prefer to pay to download a couple of songs before buying the album (in case I don't care for what I hear).

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!!

 

[psxguy85]

Once in a while I get music on iTunes.

 

[Mr.PD]

I have found that either the artist's site or the label's site will sometimes offer complete songs. I just got a song from Alice Cooper's new album and another band that I was thinking of buying. It's a hit and miss thing, but that has been the only way I have downloaded music in the last couple of years.

 

[ilikemonkeys]

internet archive or any of the BT sites that BT live non-copyrighted music.

Once you hear a nice SBD show, you'll be hooked.

BILL

 

[D-EJ915]

www.purevolume.com has lots of bands that are pretty good...you should check out 'Back from Nowhere'.

 

[rpop]

omg i cant believe u use itoonz! i get all my music from napster and it works graet with my ipod!!1

 

[pnrgi]

i would use itunes if they offered lossless, or ever decent quailty ACC's. but as it is, 128kbps acc file is not worth 1$ ill drive to bestbuy and buy the cd.

 

[pic9809]

i buy probably 3-5 songs from itunes every month

 

[Kevin143]

I use the quasi-legal Russian mp3 service allofmp3.com.

1 cent per megabyte, encoded however you want, including all of the LAME presets, OGG, and Musepack.

It's quasi-legal in America. In Russia, it's 100% legal. Basically, in Russia, the copyright law allows an online distribution service to pay a one-time fee, and then they can distribute music however they want. There is no real precedent as to whether or not you can legally import the music, but it's certainly safe, and most importantly, the sound quality is as good as you could hope for.

 

[Leto Atreides II]

XILUS. Sweden is cool.

 

[blessingx]

Another vote for semi-legal AllofMP3. Many albums are available in lossless (FLAC, Monkeys, etc.) and most are in your lossy of choice (as Kevin143 mentioned) and nearly all bitrates. A LAME -aps album will run you about 70-80 cents.

Otherwise it was iTMS for a trial, and eMusic before that (until they were bought out and switched away from an unlimited download model).

 

[cosmopragma]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevin143 I use the quasi-legal Russian mp3 service allofmp3.com. 1 cent per megabyte, encoded however you want, including all of the LAME presets, OGG, and Musepack. It's quasi-legal in America. In Russia, it's 100% legal. Basically, in Russia, the copyright law allows an online distribution service to pay a one-time fee, and then they can distribute music however they want. There is no real precedent as to whether or not you can legally import the music, but it's certainly safe, and most importantly, the sound quality is as good as you could hope for.

I use allofmp3.com, too.
In Germany "illegal " means using a source that is "obviously not licensed by the owners of the intellectual property".This legislation is aimed at criminalizing P2P networks.Allofmp3.com is licensed and therefor legal , a loophole in the law.
Allofmp3.com is cheap, convenient and great for rock , pop, techno and other electronica music, some jazz, forget about classical.
Favourites discovered via this service or otherwise I purchase used via ebay, rip them properly, encode them to lossless, and sell them afterwards.
Again, that's legal in Germany.
Charging me 1 Euro per song for crappy 128 kbit lossy encoding, LOL, **** those music industry clowns.

 

[Kevin143]

You do have to be careful with allofmp3, though. I've run into a couple albums that were poorly encoded, with bad titles or clicks/static.

Also, althogh some files are available as FLAC and shn, allofmp3 charges twice as much for the priveledge of having your files encoded from the original CD. This means that a full album of FLAC ends up being about 8 or nine dollars, about the price of the cd used.

It also means that if you don't pay extra, your file is not being encoded from the original CD. It's being re-encoded from a 384 kbps LAME MP3. Oh well. A reencoded --aps is still much better than a 128 kbps AAC.

 

[agile_one]

Napster

Since it's all legal and above board now, it seems the best of the commercial services.

<edit? spelling </edit>

 

[cosmopragma]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevin143 You do have to be careful with allofmp3, though. I've run into a couple albums that were poorly encoded, with bad titles or clicks/static. Also, althogh some files are available as FLAC and shn, allofmp3 charges twice as much for the priveledge of having your files encoded from the original CD. This means that a full album of FLAC ends up being about 8 or nine dollars, about the price of the cd used. It also means that if you don't pay extra, your file is not being encoded from the original CD. It's being re-encoded from a 384 kbps LAME MP3. Oh well. A reencoded --aps is still much better than a 128 kbps AAC.

The poorly encoded files are usually relics of the beginning of this service , not encoded by them but by users of this service who got free downloads for uploads.
AFAIK they are now encoding many of the files from lossless to your ordered bitrate, the service is in transition.
Again, charging me 20 $ or even 8$, no way.Buying used and selling the CDs later costs me an average of about 4$ for shipment, storage, backup, and uninsured lost items from time to time(maybe fraud?)