Downloading music files - Where to start?

ck42 · l33t Joined: 31 Jul 2003 Posts: 789

The woman has an mp3 player now and wants to start downloading music for it. Both of our boxen are running Gentoo, which makes things a little more difficult since it seems like so many of the online music sites are geared for Windows systems. Some won't even let you on the site once they detect that you're not running Windows!!

So...any suggestions on good places to download modern music that will work with a Linux system? (non-DRM preferred, but is that really a problem???)

Preferrably, I'd like a solution that doesn't involve me having to help her with getting things working. Although she's setup with a Linux box, she's a *user* and has little patience when she can't simply click and have things work all the time.

i92guboj · Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2006 12:14 am Post subject:

Make sure you use a convenient browser, like konqueror or mozilla firefox. They have plugins to open almost anything multimedia related. You can also set the user agent in the browser, so it will be identified like IE or any broser of your choice and the site should not complain in most cases.

You can install kplayer and netscape-flash for additional support. I know gxine has also support for brosers. You might need to enable the nsplugins USE flag.

EDIT, for konqueror you might need to install the nsplugins package.

RageOfOrder · Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2006 9:16 am Post subject:

I suppose you want to actually Buy the music online?

As much as I hate buying music without getting the actual CD..... You could try Magnatune. I assume since it's bundled with Amarok now that it supports Linux, and I'm pretty sure it's DRM free.

http://www.magnatune.com/
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Teetante · Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2006 9:44 am Post subject:

cokey · Advocate Joined: 23 Apr 2004 Posts: 3355

itunes?
limewire (frostwire is preferred)?
there are lots
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numerodix · l33t Joined: 18 Jul 2002 Posts: 743 Location: nl.eu

ck42 · l33t Joined: 31 Jul 2003 Posts: 789

I had looked at mangatunes, but it's selection seemed pretty limited and didn't appear to carry the top 40 type crap she's interested in.

emusic looked very promising until I found out it's a Russian company...located in Russia. No offense, but I'm not giving my credit card info to them.

She needs something like iTunes with it's big collection and ease of use...but able to play on a non-iPod player.

bssteph · l33t Joined: 26 Feb 2003 Posts: 652 Location: Wisconsin

Akkara · Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 3:40 am Post subject:

If you have a collection of CDs I'd recommend ripping those using one of the many cd-ripping apps available. It is still the highest-quality source available. I rip to .flac (lossless) to build my library, and have a script to encode any new files to .mp3 or whatever the format of the day is, for use in a player.

numerodix · l33t Joined: 18 Jul 2002 Posts: 743 Location: nl.eu

ck42 · l33t Joined: 31 Jul 2003 Posts: 789

bssteph: My bad. It wasn't emusic that I was thinking of that is based in Russia. As numerodix pointed out, it's allofmp3.com. I was all set to sign up with them until I did a little last second background reading and found out more about them. Otherwise I would have signed up in a heartbeat.

Akkara, yes, she has CDs but wants stuff that she has NOT bought on CD yet. She's also grown tired of her current CD collection.

numerodix et al: It sounds like there really isn't a good solution for me then....w/o having a windows box setup.

Ok....so let's say I go that route. I setup a little Windows system just so we can sign up at one of these music sites that requires windows and I'm assuming also sells DRM restricted tunes. What are my options then? What sort of restrictions will I have with this music? Hopefully it could still be transfered to her mp3 player and played whenever she wanted, right? Is there a way to extract the tune and create a non-DRM version? (legalities aside)

Oh....and to everyone who has chimed in to help. I really appreciate the comments and suggestions!

numerodix · l33t Joined: 18 Jul 2002 Posts: 743 Location: nl.eu

ck42 · l33t Joined: 31 Jul 2003 Posts: 789

Ja....it's not a Zune or an iPod. But out of curiosity, does iTunes carry the kind of top 40 pop and whatever else she might be looking for?
I guess if it came down to it, she could be getting a pink Nano for Christmas :lol:

numerodix · l33t Joined: 18 Jul 2002 Posts: 743 Location: nl.eu

ck42 · l33t Joined: 31 Jul 2003 Posts: 789

Sounds like it's going the way of cell phones here in the U.S. It's rediculous that if you want a certain model phone, you have to go with a certain carrier (disregarding unlock phones of course).

This is a real shame. Every day I'm starting to understand more and more why certain people are so opposed to DRM.

ZmiyGorinich · Posted: Thu Nov 23, 2006 9:52 am Post subject:

Also you can try find MP3 in google.com

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Enverex · Posted: Thu Nov 23, 2006 9:56 am Post subject:

I'm going to have to put a vote in for AllofMP3.com actually, been using them for a year or so now and never had any problems. Decent selection too and only place I've found where I can get FLAC format.

tabanus · l33t Joined: 11 Jun 2004 Posts: 638 Location: UK

numerodix · l33t Joined: 18 Jul 2002 Posts: 743 Location: nl.eu

tabanus · l33t Joined: 11 Jun 2004 Posts: 638 Location: UK

numerodix · l33t Joined: 18 Jul 2002 Posts: 743 Location: nl.eu

dattaway · Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2006 2:04 pm Post subject:

Its time you learn about usenet news. Fill up that new hard drive in a few days:[/code]

RageOfOrder · Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2006 9:03 pm Post subject:

I seriously recommend above all else to just simply buy the CD.

DRM is a bitch, and doesn't bite you until you've already wasted a lot of time and money with DRM'ed files.
You get restrictions on
1) How many computers
2) How many mobile players
3) What kinds of mobile players
4) Copying the music files
5) How many times you can burn the songs

I move my music around all the time, from one hard drive to another ( usually a bigger one ), to and from my iPod, and to and from my fileserver in my room. I also burn countless CDs with these songs and I would literally go nuts if I didn't have this freedom with my music.

So in light of this, when I don't have the budget, or I'm not able to find the album I want, I use bittorrent.
Might not be something you'd consider ( might not be legal in your area anyways ), but it works, and has more than enough DRM - free selection.
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numerodix · l33t Joined: 18 Jul 2002 Posts: 743 Location: nl.eu

@RageOfOrder
That's assuming you even want the cds. I don't buy cds anymore, and the cds I still have are back home in Norway and I don't need them for anything. I bought one cd in March and I gave it away after ripping it. It's a waste of plastic as far as I'm concerned, the only medium for music now is my laptop. I don't have a stereo and I wouldn't know what to do with it if I did.

Besides, it comes down to arguments like "I only want selected tracks" or "cds are too expensive", which is exactly what online stores are supposed to solve. Just that instead they pack in the DRM and push customers away, and onto independent stores that sell without DRM, like allofmp3.com.

And finally, you often have a better selection in an online store than the typical local music store anyway. I don't even go in there anymore myself, they don't have what I listen to.
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omp · Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2006 1:19 am Post subject: