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OT: Music downloads for mac - legally?

592 views 6 replies 6 participants last post by  sstaurus 
#1 ·
looking for a good site to download music legally besides iTunes...there seem to be many out there, but not many of them let you preview before paying...as i really am not into mainstream music, i dont wanna waste my money...any suggestions?? thanks
 
#3 ·
Mac, Music, MTB...

billybobzia said:
looking for a good site to download music legally besides iTunes...there seem to be many out there, but not many of them let you preview before paying...as i really am not into mainstream music, i dont wanna waste my money...any suggestions?? thanks
You've hit on some of my favorite passions...Music, the Mac, and Mountain Biking! I think if you spend some time looking around the net you'll find tons of primo quality tunes in all genres.

It used to be much easier to find free music when the original mp3.com was around, but everyone today seems to be out to make a buck. Here's how I work the system...

Schema One:
Get a trial membership to live365 (www.live365.com), which is good for 5 days. Download and install their premium player (which gives you the playlists with song, artist, and album info). Tune in and monitor the genre(s) of your choice. Capture the info for the songs you like then Google for the artist or record label website. Many artists have their own sites and offer full length tracks for free...this seems to be particularly true of European electronica artists. NOTE: the live365 player measures the 5 day trial period as 5 work days of 8 hours each...so you only get to use it for 40 hours. If you close the app after each session you can get it to last for weeks.

Schema Two:
Sign up for record company mailing lists. Many labels offer mp3 preview releases to those who are interested enough to sign up. Compost Records (www.compost-records.com) has a great list and their site offers new downloads almost every month.

Schema Three:
Follow any links from artist sites that have "similar artists" or "music influences." They often to lead to more free music. I am continually surprised by the quality of music from unsigned artists.

Schema Four:
Scour the web for contemporary design firms (houses, teams). Many of the hippest design houses openly flaunt their music influences. Last year Emigre (www.emigre.com) and House Industries (www.houseindustires.com), both typographic design houses, respectively packaged music (full length CDs) with their catalogs and new product releases. Urban Medium (www.urbanmedium.com) a pop culture design firm is associated with movemeant (www.meantality.com), a hip-hop crew...which has...you guessed it...free music! I also discovered Positron Records (www.positronrecords.com) through this method, off a link from Segura Interactive.

Finally, when I absolutely have to buy music, I try to buy used. SecondSpin (www.secondspin.com) is my current favorite online source. Amoeba Records in Hollywood is my fave walk-in (also in Berkeley and San Francisco). I can often find current releases for under $7 and have picked up gems as low as $4.

What's this got to do the mountain biking? Well, whenever I ride solo my iPod comes along. I have playlists for climbing, bombing, scenic cruising, etc. Mountains, music, clean air, and some adrenalin...what could be better?!

Besides every couple CDs I don't buy gets me a new tire!

I hope this helps.

- christopher
 
#4 ·
Start here EC Brown's MP3 links links to free and legal MP3's and a lot of them.

Personal fav 3hive which just has links to lots of legal downloads with an indie slant.

Web Nymph blogs aggregator collects the output of a lot of mp3 bloggers who are promoting their favourite music, some legal and some less so. You find plenty of bloggers out there with musical tastes similar to yours, whether it is, blues, jazz, indiepop, 9Ts eurodance, goth etc.
 
#5 ·
lidarman said:
Mac, pc doesnt matter to the record companies!

But get this, Streamripping is not regulated--YET!. So check this out, get a good streamripper and record off streamed music. I have n-teenth giga bytes of this stuff!

The positive, you get exposure to a lot of new music! ya dig?

www.shoutcast.com
what makes napster legal these days?? i am assuming if your paying for it they have made some deal with the record companies, but i don't know jack to be honest...
 
#7 ·
Try this link [ http://mp3.about.com/od/buymp3music/ ] which has a bunch of articles and reviews on different online music services.

The good news is that in the future there should be lots of choices, because it looks like online purchasing and downloading of music will be the future for artists.

On one hand its a good thing, it will help stop pirating, and allow easier sampling of music before you buy, but I for one am sad that the 'album' itself as an artform may be dying.
 
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