CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

Hey guys.

*sigh* I'm trying to make the difficult move from downloading albums via torrent to actually buying my songs. Lately, I've been downloading "samples" off of sites like demonoid, and I've found a few good artists that I would love to support with my own money (such as Ayreon... man, these guys KICK it...).

Of course, I could buy the CDs and have them physically shipped to my house, but that can be slow and... well, I don't like lugging CDs around or having to rip them directly onto my HD. I just don't have the room for CDs, that's the main problem.

So I'm looking for a good site that I can legally download MP3s from... preferably sites that are trustworthy and won't scam me. I'm hoping that you guys have some experience in this and can point me in the right direction(s)... Any (honest) recommendations are greatly appreciated!

Things I'm looking for:
1. None of that protected media crap that services like Napster use... I don't want to have to subscribe to some service just to keep my files from going outdated and unplayable. I need something like mp3s that can be easily saved, moved around, put on my iPod, and preferably played in Audiosurf without having to do some weird nonsense every single time (for Napster, you had to write the songs onto CD then rip them back off to achieve this effect... I did not like this).

2. A good selection. I listen to bands from USA to Israel to the UK to Brazil to Japan and back again. I get bored of the local flavor pretty quick.

3. I got Paypal and Visa... yeah...

4. It requires a software download? Fine, but only as long as such software is clean: no trojans or adware.

Yeah, I think that's it...

I think for the most part, you're going to have to deal with some sort of DRM. You might look into iTunes - they do offer some DRM-free music, but it costs more. It has a great selection, works with credit cards, and is excellent software.

.rai//

Amazon.com is DRM free and has a pretty good selection at lower prices (often) then iTunes.

Yep, all things considered, in your current situation iTunes is probably your best bet.

Only problem with Itunes is all of their stuff is encoded in HE-AAC format Which causes I THINK all Non Apple mp3 players unable to read them, but i KNOW causes problems with some, as my phillips wont play HE-ACC.

If you use an Ipod of some sort go for it.


(admins I apologize if this is no-no; snip or inform) Or for some out of the box thinking, there are DRM strippers out there, and all of them im aware will only work if you actually do in fact OWN the DRM for it.(so this is not software used by pirates..which is why I think its fine by CAA rules)

[quote="Midou (post: 1274628)"]Only problem with Itunes is all of their stuff is encoded in HE-AAC format Which causes I THINK all Non Apple mp3 players unable to read them, but i KNOW causes problems with some, as my phillips wont play HE-ACC.

If you use an Ipod of some sort go for it.


(admins I apologize if this is no-no]

Actually, circumventing Apple's DRM is ridiculously easy, and can be done in two simple steps. I won't mention them for obvious reasons, but their DRM and format are really a non-issue.

.rai//

yeah, I know how to remove the protection... it's just that it's a pain to do. I don't think it's illegal though, or else whoever makes and maintains Audiosurf would have been put out of business already for telling people how to do it in the Tips screens.

I think I'll probably go with iTunes... Just a question, though... all the music I buy is bounded to that account, right? So if I get a new computer or something, can I re-download all the music or must I re-purchase it?

(and yeah, I know it can only be used on one machine at a time if that's the case.)

If you strip the DRM it doesnt matter if you switch computers. As for the legality of it, its a grey area as far as im aware.

I'm aware of that. I mean within my iTunes library, the DRM-protected files... can I move my library over to another machine without having to repurchase them?

The music bought off of iTunes is bounded to your account, so yes, if you switch computers the music will follow without you having to repurchase them. I've done it myself once and had no problems.