I hate living in Korea for various reasons both vague and specific, but this particular reason is very specific: I can’t access iTunes from this godforsaken place. And none of the stupid Korean mp3 download sites are compatible with iPods.
After a frustrating search I’ve managed to find two sites that apparently allow international access: emusic and mp3search. Emusic has absolutely nothing I’m interested in. I’m not sure about mp3search; it won’t let me look until I promise to pay. It’s not telling me to eff off because I live in Korea, so that’s a positive sign, but I’m afraid I’ll end up paying and then finding out they have none of the songs I want.
So has anyone tried this site? Does it have a large selection of songs? Is there another place I could try? (Napster and RealPlayer don’t work in Korea either.) The music I’m looking for is pretty standard stuff - Bob Dylan, Rufus Wainwright, Simon & Garfunkel, etc.
Not exactly what you’re looking for, but you should in fact be able to access iTunes (unless there is, say, a national firewall blocking it or somesuch). Get a Doper in an appropriate country to buy an iTunes giftcard for you, then use an address in that country when you set up the account with the giftcard (it’s a pretty dim system… one of my friends claims to use 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue). Log in and you’re good to go.
I’m not an expert on audio formats, but I think if you can’t dowload an mp3 and out it on your iPod, either your computer & iPod are not connecting properly, or the file is not an mp3.
Well, if the file is really an mp3, and your iPod is really an iPod, just download the file and chuck it on your iPod using iTunes. Methinks the trouble here is something else. Could you explain more clearly just what the problem is with these sites? Are the files perhaps in a different format? If so, there’s bound to be software available that can convert them for you.
Correct me if I’m wrong but if you purchase/download a song in it’s original cda format you should be able to convert it. I’m guessing you don’t want to do this because of file size.
The files aren’t mp3 files, although the download sites call themselves mp3 download sites. Go figure. The files are in a format that appears to be unique to that particular site, and they’re only compatible with certain Korean mp3 players, from what I can figure out.
Actually, I think Mr Jackboots is right - all I really need is a US address and a Visa credit card to fool iTunes into thinking I live in the States.
Thanks for the help everyone!