# Help me download music legally without a monthly subscription fee. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 29, 2009, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-download-music-legally-without-a-monthly-subscription-fee/494758 "2009-04-29T19:43:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-download-music-legally-without-a-monthly-subscription-fee/494758/1 "2009-04-29T19:43:45Z")
To the point: I used Napster. Downloaded tunes. Burned them as MP3 on CD and play them in my car, which has no MP3 player port, but plays MP3 formats. I like listening to the tunes on my laptop, too. I would like to keep doing this, but do I have to pay a subscription every month? I don’t want recurring charges of any sort. I’ve canceled XM radio, and I want no recurring fees. I don’t mind paying for the tunes, but don’t know what service I can use to just ‘pay as I go’, so to speak. Any options? ---
**Author:** ![atomicbadgerrace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@atomicbadgerrace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atomicbadgerrace)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-download-music-legally-without-a-monthly-subscription-fee/494758/2 "2009-04-29T19:44:47Z")
Is there any reason why iTunes wouldn’t work perfectly for what you describe? ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-download-music-legally-without-a-monthly-subscription-fee/494758/3 "2009-04-29T19:46:24Z")
[Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) also sells MP3s on a per-track basis. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-download-music-legally-without-a-monthly-subscription-fee/494758/4 "2009-04-29T20:06:59Z")
iTunes. Pay per song or per album. No subscription fees. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-download-music-legally-without-a-monthly-subscription-fee/494758/5 "2009-04-29T20:20:30Z")
Another vote for Amazon. I prefer it over iTunes because the music is DRM-free. You can do whatever you want with the files once you’ve paid for them. iTunes, notsomuch. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-download-music-legally-without-a-monthly-subscription-fee/494758/6 "2009-04-29T20:31:53Z")
Seriously. iTunes & Amazon are easy, cheap, and legal. And FWIW, some bands will let you DL mp3s from their Myspace page or website for free. > [@ZipperJJ](#): > > iTunes, notsomuch. iTunes, [yes](http://www.apple.com/itunes/whatsnew/)so[much](http://gizmodo.com/5124588/itunes-gets-drm-free-new-prices-purchase-over-3g). ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-download-music-legally-without-a-monthly-subscription-fee/494758/7 "2009-04-29T20:33:39Z")
Ok. I will check them out. With so many bait and switch offers out there, I wasn’t sure what was really subscription free. Know the SDMB wouldn’t steer me wrong. I just didn’t have time/desire to find out one-by-one which was straight-up per song charge only. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-download-music-legally-without-a-monthly-subscription-fee/494758/8 "2009-04-29T20:36:22Z")
[www.mp3rocket.com/](http://www.mp3rocket.com/) ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-download-music-legally-without-a-monthly-subscription-fee/494758/9 "2009-04-29T20:50:14Z")
Unless something has changed recently I don’t think that itunes sells MP3 files. They sell ACC files. Make sure your car can play the ACC files. I would not be surprised if it could not. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-download-music-legally-without-a-monthly-subscription-fee/494758/10 "2009-04-29T21:18:16Z")
[www.trackitdown.net](http://www.trackitdown.net) for dance, trance and alternative. If you’re interested in those genres they have lots of songs and artists iTunes and Amazon do not. ---
**Author:** ![JackofHearts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8c91f0/32.png) [@JackofHearts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackofHearts)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-download-music-legally-without-a-monthly-subscription-fee/494758/11 "2009-04-29T22:47:35Z")
I really like [lala.com](http://lala.com) for this sort of thing. A catalog pretty comparable to itunes, and you can generally buy tracks cheaper than itunes, with the option to buy just the streaming rights for a song for .10. If you decide you want to own it, that .10 gets credited toward the purchase price. Seems very fair and customer friendly to me. The other part of lala that rocks is that you can have it scan your pre-existing collection and it then gives you unlimited streaming rights for tracks you already own. You then have access to your entire library anywhere with an internet connection. ---
**Author:** ![Cleophus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e57/32.png) [@Cleophus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cleophus)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-download-music-legally-without-a-monthly-subscription-fee/494758/12 "2009-04-29T23:42:05Z")
> [@gazpacho](#): > > Unless something has changed recently I don’t think that itunes sells MP3 files. They sell ACC files. Make sure your car can play the ACC files. I would not be surprised if it could not. You can burn an audio CD or convert the AAC files to MP3 now that you can buy DRM-free music from the iTunes Store. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-download-music-legally-without-a-monthly-subscription-fee/494758/13 "2009-04-29T23:47:58Z")
> [@Cleophus](#): > > You can burn an audio CD or convert the AAC files to MP3 now that you can buy DRM-free music from the iTunes Store. Or you could, you know, just buy the MP3s at Amazon. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2009, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-download-music-legally-without-a-monthly-subscription-fee/494758/14 "2009-04-30T01:09:27Z")
A few other possibilties worth checking out. Napster _will_ sell you tracks that you can keep without having to pay the monthly subscription fee. I used to go on napster monthly for a month or to, ‘trial’ as much music as I could listen to, and buy the stuff I liked best. However, it’s still DRM-ed WMA, and if your microsoft DRM gets fouled up enough, you’ll have to download it all from napster again. I do recommend burning everything that you buy to CDs, so that you have those. It’s also a good way to tell if you can keep something after your subscription gives out - if you try to burn something that you haven’t ‘bought’, just downloaded, napster will either stop you from burning or prompt you to pay for the track. Also emusic is great. They have non-DRM mp3s, not as great a selection as other places, but really cheap. They do have ‘monthly plans’, but you don’t have to stay on the plan to enjoy your music, it’s just a billing deal where they charge your credit for ten bucks a month, say, and let you download any thirty mp3s you want within the month, instead of paying for each track a la carte or as albums. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2009, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-download-music-legally-without-a-monthly-subscription-fee/494758/15 "2009-04-30T01:41:59Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > Or you could, you know, just buy the MP3s at Amazon. With iTunes new pricing structure, is it worthwhile to buy at Amazon just for MP3 vs. AAC issues? ---
**Author:** ![PatriotGrrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@PatriotGrrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotGrrrl)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2009, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-download-music-legally-without-a-monthly-subscription-fee/494758/16 "2009-04-30T01:49:31Z")
> [@spooje](#): > > [www.mp3rocket.com/](http://www.mp3rocket.com/) The OP said “legally”. That’s a gnutella client. (Same as Limewire etc.) ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2009, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-download-music-legally-without-a-monthly-subscription-fee/494758/17 "2009-04-30T01:51:58Z")
> [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](#): > > Seriously. iTunes & Amazon are easy, cheap, and legal. And FWIW, some bands will let you DL mp3s from their Myspace page or website for free. > > iTunes, [yes](http://www.apple.com/itunes/whatsnew/)so[much](http://gizmodo.com/5124588/itunes-gets-drm-free-new-prices-purchase-over-3g). And you can put them on non iPods? That was my beef with them before. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2009, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-download-music-legally-without-a-monthly-subscription-fee/494758/18 "2009-04-30T04:50:22Z")
> [@tumbleddown](#): > > With iTunes new pricing structure, is it worthwhile to buy at Amazon just for MP3 vs. AAC issues? What new pricing structure? The one where itunes charges more than amazon for albums and the same for songs?