Music Downloading

[Jeanette X]

Can anyone recommend a good site where I can download music LEGALLY? Something with a good selection and with as low a price as possible.

[MetalMilitia]

iTunes, Amazon?

[Fathom Zero]

Amazon is very groovy. Sans DRM.

[executioneer]

why would you want to download music legally

[Krythor]

Yeah, I don't understand that. My argument for downloading music illegally has always been that I can see if I like it before buying a hard copy of something I might otherwise turn out to hate. Buying digital music seems like a terrible idea; I hate the way the greedy fat cats are forcing music further down this avenue!

[Dimnos]

I personally use iTunes and have no problems with it. $0.99 a song isnt a bad deal and if you buy one or two songs and decide you like it enough to buy the entire album the one or two bucks you have already spent get deducted from the album price. Krythor makes a good point but thats what I use youtube and pandora radio for.

[stevetothepast]

I would suggest not being a pussy and just pirate it. If it's music that's hard to find on torrent sites, buy the hard medium

[Dimnos]

Originally Posted by stevetothepast

I would suggest not being a pussy and just pirate it. If it's music that's hard to find on torrent sites, buy the hard medium

I used to think just like this but then I realized you are essentially stealing from the bands you like. In theory if they dont get the recognition and/or money from sales they quit making the music you like. Paying money for their music is just you giving them your support.

Hard mediums get lost stolen or damaged. Most digital sources keep a record of your purchases and if you ever need a new copy (your computer bites the big one or some such) you can re-download them for free.

[Dimnos]

Oh and...

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/06/18/...download.fine/

[Krythor]

I haven't looked into it or tried it myself, so I'm ignorant of a few aspects of buying digital music, but even with the ability to re-download for free, the song still does not "exist" as yours.

Hard copies get lost, stolen or damaged in most circumstances because people are careless, and you can go home and create your own backups, hard or digital, in any case. I also enjoy the care and detail that goes into packaging, and I am someone who likes to sit and listen to things from start to finish, so the whole aesthetic of the album as an art form appeals to me. Buying songs for a dollar drains that part of the joy out of it.

Can you purchase digital songs in a lossless format? That's not a rhetorical question, I genuinely don't know; I always assumed not.

[Krythor]

And, PS, I don't mean to sound like I'm passing judgement on people who buy downloads, it just frustrates me that CD's will one day become obsolete as the trend increases.

[Esuohlim]

I'm with Krythor. I listen to albums from start to finish, because to me a song doesn't mean anything on its own. The individual songs on the album on the whole form what I interpret to be the big picture, whether it's intended to be a concept album or not. I have friends who burn me mix CDs that I feel are unlistenable because everything seems taken out of context.

As for digital downloads I'd never buy them. I download full albums to try them out, and if I truly like them enough I buy a tangible copies. It just seems that once CDs are phased out and replaced with instant digital downloads at $0.99 a song, the concept of the album itself will get phased out as well. It will become a nonstop assortment of singles that artists will put out one at a time with no real cohesion. And I hate that idea.

[Dimnos]

Originally Posted by Esuohlim

It just seems that once CDs are phased out and replaced with instant digital downloads at $0.99 a song, the concept of the album itself will get phased out as well. It will become a nonstop assortment of singles that artists will put out one at a time with no real cohesion. And I hate that idea.

The thought of this does indeed suck.

[Fathom Zero]

I buy albums. I buy EPs.

I steal .mp3s.

I don't care.

[stevetothepast]

Originally Posted by Fathom Zero

I buy albums. I buy EPs.

I steal .mp3s.

I don't care.

+1

[Aries]

I also agree with Krythor. I don't pay money for something that doesn't tangibly exist. I download music for free to see if I like it. If I do, I buy the CD. As for CDs getting lost or damaged, that's a result of peoples' own carelessness.

[Dimnos]

My hard drive tangibly exists.

[Dimnos]

So does the extra $4 I still have in my bank account.