BleepingComputer.com: Purchasing Music Downloads Online

Hello. I was wondering if anybody knew of any safe, reputable sites where a person can purchase music downloads without having to download and install software from the music vendor first.

I tried to purchase some music from one company, but it wouldn't download. Their customer support tried to help, but it never worked. (They did refund my money cheerfully.) Of course, first I had to install their software on my PC. I have since uninstalled it. I was left wondering, "Why can't I just pay for it, and download it, like any other software?" I know music is not "software", but it is just computer data, that can be downloaded like any other program, isn't it?

I buy music very rarely, so it wouldn't bother me to pay as much a a couple of bucks per song, if I could just buy the song, and not have to install any software first.

Thank you to all who take the time to reply.

If you are using Windows, the Media Player has a lot of links to download sites. You can download directly through the MP, too. It all depends on what you're looking for. If you want rap, hip-hop, or "music" of that variety, you'll probably find what you're looking for. For rock (real rock - what they call classic rock today), you may have to dig a little deeper.

Now we can hear from the people that will tell you you should steal music.

Amazon.com has a MP3 Section. No software required I believe.

Thank you for the suggestions. I have tried several of the sites that WMP links to, and they all require additional software to be downloaded before any purchase can be made. I didn't try every last one, but all of the ones that I did try required it. And I should mention, MattV, that you nailed it right on the head. "Classic" rock is exactly what I am interested in.

I will visit Amazon.com, and see if that works out.

Additional suggestions are still appreciated.

This post has been edited by rlprlp: 21 March 2008 - 07:09 AM

Well the reason why you can't just directly pay for mp3s and download them without software is because of anti-piracy reasons. Apple for example required you to have iTunes to get music and you can't copy that music as mp3s. This is to stop them from being copied etc. So I don't think your going to have much luck.

Here is some free music DL's. These are live shows recorded by someone usually in the audience. Completely legal.
But there's not a lot to choose from.

I like Little Feat, Grateful Dead, Derek Trucks band, Phil & Friends, etc. so it works for me.


http://www.archive.org/browse.php?field=/m...ollection=etree

What about actually buying the CD and then saving it as an mp3 and putting it on your mp3 player etc.

Thanks for the info. I've been seeing articles fairly recently about the music vendors cracking down on on music pirates (especially college students). I had a hunch that any software that a person was required to download first before purchase had something to do with license enforcement.

Here's a tip that I happen to know, that I don't believe is any big secret (in other words, I understand if a moderator chooses to delete this, but I find it hard to believe that it is illegal, considering it is so easy to do): Burn your downloaded music to a 10 cent blank CD. Then, re-rip it onto you PC. The DRM will be gone, and you can do with the song what you wish. Again, I apologize to the moderators if this is considered illegal, and understand completely if they delete this.

One site which provides some free downloads is http://seekasong.com/

You may find something there with a bit of looking around.

Cheers

Seekasong didn't have the particular song that I was unable to purchase (rats!), but it definitely looks like a site that I will enjoy browsing. Thank you for the tip.

EDIT: UPDATE: I just purchased my song successfully from Amazon (OmegamB's link). They RECOMMEND a software download, but it is not required. Of course, you have already guessed that I chose not to install the software. Quick, easy, trouble-free, and I was pleasantly surprised when I added the song to my WMP library to see that it was not protected. I have no idea if that goes for all music sold by Amazon, but the song I purchased has no DRM, so I can enjoy it however I wish.

This post has been edited by rlprlp: 22 March 2008 - 08:10 AM

I may have to look into that. Question - are you given a choice of D/L format? I'd hate to buy an album and burn it to CD only to find out that it won't work in a normal CD player. (No, I don't mess around with mp3's. I don't even own a player.)

You'd be best to look into it yourself, MattV, because to be honest, I really didn't notice. The song that I purchased was in fact MP3, but I can't recall if I had a choice.

Are you open to another suggestion? I play guitar. I was in a band many years ago, but now only play for personal enjoyment. I play along with music, and I have some freeware programs for "fiddling around" with songs. For example, I have a program that will change the pitch of a song without changing the tempo, so that way the recorded song will match the key in which I like to tune my guitar. EDIT: If that interests anybody who reads this, the program is called "Audacity", written by volunteers (SourceForge?).

So, here's the suggestion: There is a free program simply called "SUPER". It is offered by a company called eRightSoft. I'll let you find it yourself, as I don't have a link handy. It lets you pretty much convert audio and video in just about any combination. MP3 to WMA or vice versa; WAV, iPod, you name it.

This post has been edited by rlprlp: 23 March 2008 - 07:43 AM

I use Super too, and it's quite awesome (here's the link: http://www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html ) I really, really hate the UI for it though.