Recommendations please for downloading music files

[PineRidge]

What and where do you all recommend a green-horn like me go to download music files for an MP3 player? Are there any services that are easier to use for obtaining music files? Should I expect to pay per song, per album, or per month?

I also appreciate any other information that you care to share on this subject.

 

[getut]

I recommend MP3Tunes.com.

They are standard MP3 with no Digital Rights Management whatsoever. Show the RIAA that you are willing to get your music legally, but are NOT willing to let them control your computer.

 

[MikePA]

I have an iPod (60 gig iPod Photo) and use iTunes. Also use it in my car. 99 cents per song, about $12.99 for an album. iTunes will also search your hard drive for MP3 files and put them on the iPod. You can also import music CDs into iTunes.

 

[PineRidge]

Mike are you saying that I can import a CD to iTunes then transfer the songs to the MP3 player?

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Mike, be careful of the monthly subscription downloads, on some of them you are only renting the songs, as soon as you stop paying the monthly fee you lose access to the songs. I tend to agree with MikePA, iTunes works very well and yes, you can copy a CD into iTunes and then export it to a player. iTunes does limit how many times you can record a playlist, but if you alter your playlist, you can keep recording. Basically it says if you are doing too many multiple copies then we will be a pain for you to use, but if you are a normal person you'd never run into a problem. I don't know about Getut's answer but it sounds good.

 

[MikePA]

<font color="blue"> Mike are you saying that I can import a CD to iTunes then transfer the songs to the MP3 player? </font>
I've imported CDs into iTunes but I've only ever used iTunes with an iPod.

 

[MikePA]

<font color="blue">I recommend MP3Tunes.com. They are standard MP3... </font>
They might be standard mp3, but they are not the standard, i.e., original artists. I'd rather pay 11 cents more and get the original singer/group.

 

[ejtaylor822]

Mike,
What kind of MP3 player do you have? Or, are you looking to get one.

I have, and love, my iPod. Have wanted one for years and my wife surprised me with the 40GB this past Christmas. As a musician this is the greatest thing in the world. Gone are the days of taking a CD player and a whole case of CDs to a rehearsal/gig. Drop the pod in your pocket and it's done! I use it in the car with and FM adapter and at work.

iTunes can be somewhat clunky at first, but, I think it's much better than the windows media player. Plus, with the on-line store with the search functionality and ease of downloading it's a great system. Another cool function of iTunes is the ability to share your library with multiple computers in your home network. I have my main "media" PC in my studio setup as the "master" sharing the library. iTunes is loaded on all our PC's. We can now get to ALL of our albums from one central location. I have a small laptop that I paid $100 for, upgraded the memory to use XP and now have this hooked into the main stereo in the home theater. No more loading CDs!

One caveat to iTunes though. It only runs on XP. So, depending upon your PC, you may have to upgrade to XP (about $79) and add additional memory so that XP can run (about another $50 to $100 depending upon how much you need). Also, iTunes is a memory hog as well so take that into consideration as well if you have to buy memory. You probably want to have at least, bare minimum, 256 MB total system memory.

Hope this helps.

 

[Steve_Miller]

Mike,
I've gotten some off of blubster.com they seem to have a good variety.

Steve

 

[MikePA]

<font color="blue"> One caveat to iTunes though. It only runs on XP. </font>
It also runs on Windows2000.