Looking back over the music that I’ve bought over the last couple of years I see that I’ve bought a lot of CDs that replace albums that I have already bought once on either vinyl or cassette. I’ve bought very little new music recently.
This year I want that to change. I want to investigate more new music. And I’m also going to start buying a larger proportion of it as downloads rather than CDs.
My current download site of choice is Karma Download. They do most of what I want, but in some areas their catalogue can be a bit limited (for example, earlier today I was filled with the urge to buy some Lone Justice songs but Karma didn’t have any).
I’m a bit out of touch with the download world, so I’m asking for advice. Where are good places to buy music online? Any site I use must have as many as possible of the following features:
- Web site must work in Firefox on Linux
- Downloads must have no DRM. I expect that will mean MP3s. I’d prefer Ogg Vorbis, but you can’t have everything
- The catalogue should be extensive and contain both new music and old back catalogue stuff
What sites do you use?
I download singles from iTunes (which you won’t like), but I still buy albums on CD because I like to have them as a backup, and I don’t trust computer stuff not to foul up and destroy my collection. And at least if I want to sell the CD later and make a few quid I can.
allofmp3.com
I’m a student from Canada doing a project on a on-line music downlaoding service, http://www.projectopous.com. You should check it out, it’s free to listen to song before you buy them. They have artists from all over the world with many differnt genre’s from alternative to rock and country. Its new an not fully develpoed yet, but you should try it. Then give me some feed back as to what you liked and to what you didn’t like. Cheers
emusic.com, no question. Massive selection, new stuff all the time, 25c per track. Linux support isn’t great but still exists.
Bleep provide MP3s for download with no DRM. They make a big thing about that. Tracks are a maximum of 99p each, less if you buy an entire album. The repertoire tends towards leftfield dance/experimental/electronica, but there is also some more poppy stuff. Key labels they deal with are Warp, Leaf, Cooking Vinyl, Thrill Jockey and Twisted Nerve. You can listen to 30 second extracts before purchasing.
PlayLouder also provide MP3s for download with no DRM. Tracks are also about 99p each. The genre here is more indie-based, dealing with labels like 4AD and Beggars Banquet.
I was in a similar position as yourself and had found my music-buying dwindling until 6 months ago when I signed up to http://www.allofmp3.comSince then I’ve started buying about £20 of music a month. And in Russian money that buys a whole load of music. The beauty of the site is that you pay by the MB, so the better quality you want, the more you pay. And you can download in most major formats.
emusic.com andaudiolunchbox.com