Well, what IS the big deal about buying it online first? The main reason I buy stuff online is because I may not want the entire CD so it’s easier to buy song by song but if I wanted an entire CD I might well buy it and then just rip it to my computer. It takes longer but it’s the same result in the end.
I think you’ve answered your own question: why take the longer route if the shorter one is available?
Well, for me part of why I sometimes still do it is because even if my computer crashes, I still have all my songs on disc which I don’t really have if it’s just digital. It feels like I really own them if I have them on CD. Plus I know that iTunes used to (not sure if it still does) do this thing where they wouldn’t really sell you the songs but technically just leased it…you’d have it for like seven computers and that’s it and no putting your songs on non iPods. Amazon.com is much better, thank god, but I always hated iTunes. If I buy a song, it should be mine forever!
Zappa was available briefly a few years ago. His widow made a deal and I got a bunch of stuff from eMusic but she didn’t like the deal and rescinded it in a month or two.
Yes, I do remember being able to get Zappa a few years ago on Rhapsody, and then one day nothing. As much as I like the subscription music thing, the fact that some songs might be removed really sucks. Not enough for me to go back to buying CD’s though.
How does Rhapsody work? Is it a thing where you actually have the music, like to D/L or is it more of a Pandora service where you just listen?
Sort of in between. More like Pandora, as in you have to pay for access to music (I think it’s $15 per month, that includes the ability to play tracks on a MP3 player, a couple buck less if you just want to listen on your PC) but unlike Pandora you get to pick exactly what you want to listen to.
The plus side to it is that you can access all you want for a set price (and unlike iTunes, you can sample the entire song, the entire album even, not just 30 seconds). Rhapsody also has radio stations by genre if you like that, and they are pretty good. If you like to explore new music, or listen to stuff you liked way back when, it’s pretty good - I’m like a kid in a candy store. For instance, I never listen to or even knew much about Jefferson Airplane, and I’m not going to plunk down cash for a Jefferson Airplane CD, but I have 2 of their albums on my MP3 player because I can at no additional expense - my $15 covers it. I do that for a ton of artists.
The bad side is that once you stop the subscription, the access stops. It’s a trade off, for the price of one CD per month you have a huge selection of music, but stop paying and you have nothing. If you go out and actually buy the music, you have a CD you can always play. I have hundreds of CD’s that I bought in the 80’s and 90’s that I don’t listen to anymore. For what I spent on those, I could buy 15 YEARS of subscription music, and always have the newest stuff. It works for me, I haven’t bought a CD in years, but I have everything I want, including the latest music on my MP3 player.
Another downside is that iPods don’t work with it. A lot of other players do (I use a Zen), but not iPods. I think it is available as an iPhone app though. I also access it with a squeezebox. Oh, another downside is that you have to connect you MP3 player to your PC once a month to update the licenses, otherwise any tracks you have stop playing (they are good once you connect to your computer). It’s rare, but it is annoying when it happens.
You can try it free for 14 days. If you are interested, give it a try. Some people like it, some don’t.
edited to add: you can either stream the tracks to your PC, or D/L them. And you can stream to any computer.
With this relevation, I’m just going to consider NineToTheSky’s OP to be magic. Do it again! Do it again! (This time, ask for a pony.)
iTunes is completely DRM free. You can buy a tune and put it on as many devices as you want. You can also use iTunes to convert an AAC file to MP3 (very quickly and easily) and put it on any type of MP3 device.
Cool. I’m already on amazon.com which doesn’t seem to need any conversions so I think I’ll stick with it, but thanks for the info.
Now, back to hoping the Beatles will make their musical available digitally, song by song, and online. Will I ever get Please Mr. Postman without resorting to putting the video on my mp3 player?
Injunction granted against seller.
Story here
Bluebeats “psycho-acoustic simulation” is probably not going to hold up.