On Tue, Jan 20, 2009 at 2:05 PM, Kevin Kempter kevin@kevinkempterllc.com wrote:

Hi all;

anyone out there using one of the pay for music download sites? I'm wanting to find one that does not require windows or mac software to simply download the mp3 files, or other such stupidity.

Suggestions ?

Thanks in advance

Not exactly answering your question: Amazon.com's music purchase has a Linux client. As I understand the files you get are pure DRM-free MP3 files.

-Mauriat

Kevin Kempter wrote:

Hi all;

anyone out there using one of the pay for music download sites?

I use both AmazonMP3 and Magnatune occasionally.

Magnatune is perfect (Ogg Vorbis or FLAC, no downloader needed, etc.), except it doesn't have any mainstream artists.

AmazonMP3 has a (proprietary) downloader for Linux that works well. I'd like the downloader to be FOSS, and offer Ogg Vorbis, but...

Matt Flaschen

Kevin Kempter wrote:

anyone out there using one of the pay for music download sites?

i seldom download music, but when i do;

http://www.jamendo.com/en/ has ogg and mp3 music with free downloads that i have pulled using just firefox.

http://www.downloading-music.org/, a free mp3 search engine.

JD wrote:

Many such sites I have looked at to do not need any windows software. You just register, provide your personal info and your credit card numbers. That's it! You are on your own!

Or... you can use sites that have been reviewed by reliable publications.

Matt Flaschen

On Tuesday 20 January 2009 03:05:07 pm Kevin Kempter wrote:

anyone out there using one of the pay for music download sites?

mp3.walmart.com (it has music from the MAJOR labels...)

HTH, Jorge

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Kevin Kempter wrote:

Hi all;

anyone out there using one of the pay for music download sites? I'm wanting to find one that does not require windows or mac software to simply download the mp3 files, or other such stupidity.

Suggestions ?

Thanks in advance

http://gomusic.ru

According to their legal information page, they are legal in Russia. Whether that makes them legal to download from in your country, I have no idea. I have been using them for well over a year with no identity theft or security issues. Their tech support is lightning fast to respond, customer service is great, and MP3s are something like 15 cents/track when you buy by the album.

I've had long debates with some friends about downloading MP3s. For me, I wind up downloading MP3s for music I find interesting but not worth buying the CD for. So in my case, I can honestly say that the whole RIAA argument about musicians having lost revenue are complete bullshit. If I find an artist I *really* like, I will go and buy the CD. It's worth 15 cents a track to check out an artist I'm not familiar with. No way would I plunk down $12-$15 for the same CD.

Also, if you've not tried http://www.pandora.com, you really should. You plug in an artist or song you like and it finds similar music based on what the call the music genome. Things like beats per minute, vocal quality, syncopation and rhythm and so on. I've been introduced to a ton of new (to me) artists that I really like that way.

TC

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On 01/20/2009 01:29 PM, Matthew Flaschen wrote:

Kevin Kempter wrote:

...

Hi all;

anyone out there using one of the pay for music download sites?

I use both AmazonMP3 and Magnatune occasionally.

Magnatune is perfect (Ogg Vorbis or FLAC, no downloader needed, etc.), except it doesn't have any mainstream artists.

AmazonMP3 has a (proprietary) downloader for Linux that works well. I'd like the downloader to be FOSS, and offer Ogg Vorbis, but...

I can't get the Amazon downloader to work on F10. It does work on F9, however. http://www.amazon.com/gp/dmusic/help/amd.html

- --

Steve

...

I've had long debates with some friends about

downloading MP3s.  For me,

...

I wind up downloading MP3s for music I find

interesting but not worth

...

buying the CD for.  So in my case, I can honestly say

that the whole

...

RIAA argument about musicians having lost revenue are

complete bullshit.

...

If I find an artist I *really* like, I will go and

buy the CD.  It's

...

worth 15 cents a track to check out an artist I'm

not familiar with.  No

...

way would I plunk down $12-$15 for the same CD.

Artists lose revenue through illegal file-sharing. Artists gain revenue if you buy from reputable sites. Magnatune guarantee that the artist will get 50% of whatever you pay (I don't know how they split it when you buy monthly subscriptions).

I hate to disagree with some of the arguments here, but here it goes:

Artists lose money either which way :(, they make the money via concerts, presentations. The guys at recording studios rip them off, the illegal/legal file sharing guys as well. I have a friend who had hit somewhat big in the 80's and once in a while he and his group go out to the states, like Florida, New York, Illinois, Nevada and California. He asked his recording studio to make for him like 50 cd's so he could take to his presentations. They charged him(the original author, songs were all his own), like $10 for each cd. He asked me if I could burn for him multiple copies of his big hits and how much I would charge him. I told him to bring me the cd's(blanks) and I would happily burn them and then a friend copy the cd label and print out the cd covers. He wanted to pay me $5 for each cd, but since he is a friend of the family, I told him that it was OK :)

I asked if anything was illegal and he told me that if I ever get into trouble, as the original author of the music/songs he would go to court with me if necessary.

The good^{*} artists give away their music for free and release it under protective licenses. They are released under Cretive common licenses or something like that.

Regards,

Antonio

^{*} the word good here is subjective, so YMMV. Good refers to kind people who like to share their work so others can enjoy it too without paying royalities. Like we enjoy using Fedora for free and we do not pay to use it :)

Anne Wilson wrote:

...

...

AmazonMP3 has a (proprietary) downloader for Linux that works well. I'd like the downloader to be FOSS, and offer Ogg Vorbis, but...

I can't get the Amazon downloader to work on F10. It does work on F9, however. http://www.amazon.com/gp/dmusic/help/amd.html

I found that it wasn't needed, so I'm pleased that I didn't have to install it.

It is needed, if you want to download complete albums.

Matt Flaschen

On Mon, Jan 26, 2009 at 08:15:21PM -0600, Thomas Cameron wrote:

Anne Wilson wrote:

...

On Saturday 24 January 2009 17:02:40 Thomas Cameron wrote:

...

I've had long debates with some friends about downloading MP3s. For me, I wind up downloading MP3s for music I find interesting but not worth buying the CD for. So in my case, I can honestly say that the whole RIAA argument about musicians having lost revenue are complete bullshit. If I find an artist I *really* like, I will go and buy the CD. It's worth 15 cents a track to check out an artist I'm not familiar with. No way would I plunk down $12-$15 for the same CD.

Artists lose revenue through illegal file-sharing.

I would argue that. I am 100% certainly *not* going to buy a CD from an artist I don't know. So in my case, file sharing is actually much *more* likely to earn them a sale. If I can listen to a CD for a very low price (e.g. 15 cents/track at http://gomusic.ru or free via p2p) and then I like it, I go buy it. So the argument could be made that file-sharing is actually a win for the artists in my case.

I agree that file sharing is probably a win for a lot of independent artists, especially the good ones. ;-) But it should be the artist's choice, not ours.

Sites like CD Baby provide 2-minute snippets of songs, often every song on an album, which is plenty to decide if you like an album enough to buy it. They tend to feature indies, though. Amazon does much the same I think, but could probably provide longer snippets. However, they seem to do it for almost everything they sell.

There's plenty of ways to sample records out there that don't involve downloading albums from places where the artist is getting absolutely no return on their investment of time, energy, and (hopefully) talent.

Anyway, this is a tired debate that doesn't have a lot to do with Fedora at this point, but I'll bring it back on-topic by pointing out that you can sample music using Jamendo and Magnatune, both supported by e.g. Rhythmbox out of the box in Fedora, and both allowing you to basically pay what you want to support artists. I'm not going to lie and say everything there has mass appeal, but even a picky guy like me has found things to like on both services. Those artists have made a conscious choice to make their work available to you like that, and it's good to promote that mindset and reward them as a lesson to other artists on how they might market their work.

Around 10:15am on Wednesday, February 04, 2009 (UK time), JasonB scrawled:

i use mp3 obsession [2] its very cheap and all online so you do not need any software. songs on there are from 9cents and all good quality. also, this site is legal unlike many that have been suggested here 8-)

This does not to seem to be a site that sells mp3s, but a site that reviews (really links) to a number of Russian mp3 sites. From the FAQ:

Is this service legal? Yes, all of the sites we review are based in Russia, and Russian laws allow you to to download mp3's as long as they are for personal use only and not distribution.

How to download music from us : Step 1. Browse or search for the track, album or soundtrack you wish to download Step 2. Select which website you wish to download your selection from Step 3. Click 'buy track/album/soundtrack' Step 4. You will be taken to your chosen website to buy the mp3

I suspect that the legality of buying this way would be disputed by a number of organisations outside of Russia.

Steve