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[rickscogland]

I'm searching for the best LEGAL (in the USA) option for downloading 128 kps MP3's.

- Good large selection.
- No conversions required.
- Fast downloads.
- Ability to download, play, rip, burn, for my own use without limitation (99% of the time I will just download to my PC and "play" thru MC 9.1, but I will ocasionally burn a CD for use in the car).

I would consider two pricing options:
- No monthly cost ... just a cheap per-song fee.
- Unlimited downloads for a monthly cost (as long as there is no longterm commitment ... yes, I would likely join for a month, download a ton, and then quit).

I do NOT care about streaming internet radio stations ... I just want to pay for the songs that I want and use it the way I want to use it forever.

I assume that everything I am asking for is legal, but if I am wrong, I take it back.

What would some good options be?

Thanks,  -Rick

[ThatAdamGuy]

For MP3s, I believe you have only two options:
- Magnatune
- Emusic

[Drowbe]

Emusic *used* to rock...now it just *sorta* rocks.

They went from unlimited downloads to 40/month.  The problem is that albums don't always divide nicely into 40, so you get *part* of an album one month and the rest of it the next.

They'd be better served with a different model...for instance 40 songs PLUS the rest of the album that would push you over the limit.

They do nice VBR rips with no DRM.  If you are into Indie/Alternative/Jazz/Blues/Classical, go take a look.  if you are looking for the latest Justine Timberlake album, you won't find it there.

[rocketsauce]

I know this isn't quite what you're after, but in case you weren't aware of it, Internet Archive: Live Music Archive has tons of live music, some even by artists you've heard of, available legally for download. It's all lossless, though, probably FLAC or SHN.

http://www.archive.org/audio/etree.php

Internet Archive: Netlabels has lots of (mostly electronic) music by artists who choose to make their music available for free in .mp3 or .ogg. I've been downloading a lot from here and have found some pretty cool stuff. My two new favorite electronic music genres are Bleep and Chipstyle.

http://www.archive.org/audio/netlabels.php

Rob

[rickscogland]

Thanks for the replies, but I'm still looking.  Here's my rundown ...

Magnatune - I've never heard of any of the artists.

Emusic - I originally planned to use Emusic, but I ran out of songs I wanted before the trial period ended.

Internet Archive - I've never heard of any of the artists.

I certainly don't want Justin Timberlake, or any other current Top-40 type music for that matter (unless it was a one-hit wonder in the late 70's or early 80's).

The type of stuff I am looking for is best described as the stuff that XM Radio plays on "Fred" (channel 44) ... they call it "classic alternative" music.  I have most of the more well known music (ie: older music from The Cure, REM, U2, etc) but I'm looking for the lesser known stuff (ie: older music from one-hit wonders and bands like XTC, Bid Audio Dynamite, Tomandandy, Stone Roses, etc.).  The occational classic rock songs would be nice to get as well.

[JimH]

You might want to consider expanding your requirements to include WMA.  

For better or worse, newer services are often using WMA with Microsoft DRM.  Handheld manufacturers are also moving in that direction.

The other newer format is AAC but the two services offering it (Apple and Real) provide incompatible formats because of the DRM they use.

[rickscogland]

It does appear I'll need a new format.  I'm not familiar with how "WMA with Microsoft DRM" affects what I want to do, but I assume I can't just convert it to MP3 (I mean legally, and without first burning to CD).

[rocketsauce]

Internet Archive - I've never heard of any of the artists.

Yeah, but all the music there is legal to download for free.

I'm not familiar with how "WMA with Microsoft DRM" affects what I want to do, but I assume I can't just convert it to MP3

Since it would degrade sound quality, you wouldn't want to convert a wma (or any other lossy format) to mp3 anyway, especially if you are paying money for the downloads.

I doubt your gonna find any services offering much of the music you're looking for. You'd probably have better luck scouring used record stores for old cds and ripping your own mp3s. And, if you can find a store that has good prices for old stuff, it would probably be cheaper than paying per download.

Rob

[Drowbe]

Any file type with DRM is not likely to *allow* you to convert it to MP3 since that would defeat the DRM.

As JimH mentioned, lots of sites are using WMA with DRM these days.  WMA does sound quite good, but keep remember to: 1) make sure your portable player (if you use one) will support the WMA file type...I am pretty sure the iPod won't, and 2) Any sort of DRM will restrict the "portability" of the file...meaning the device/software you play it on will have to have been "okay'd" by the file via registration or some other method.

[rickscogland]

This site:

http://www.musicrebellion.com/

Seems to meet my new requirements, assuming it is legal.  I checked it out, and as far as I can tell, it does appear to be legal ... am I wrong?

[Deivit]

This site:

http://www.musicrebellion.com/

I'd like to put just one example as to why I don't think that charging $ 0.90 for a song has a bright future.

I started browsing the jazz selection of that site, clicked on "A" and found an album that could be interesting. It's a box set from Verve that I own for some time now.

If you download the whole box set in WMA format you pay $34.10
http://www.musicrebellion.com/Details.jsp?AID=44195&AL=39031

If you buy the same box set in Amazon.com, you get the four CDs, a nice booklet with liner notes of each of the songs, covert art, a slipcase to store the 4 CDs, jewel cases, plus the ability to rip it and use it the way you prefer... and what do you pay for all that? ... $26.99 !!! (with free shipping in the US).

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005PJCN/qid%3D1076604535/sr%3D11-1/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F1/102-3123410-0147363

Come on....

[rickscogland]

David ... your one example is simply that ... one example.  You picked practically the highest priced song and the largest sized album.

What about all the $0.05 and $0.10 songs?  What about people like me who don't want entire albums, but want a LOT of one-hit wonders?  My one example could look like this:

If I want (500) one-hit wonder songs at $0.05 each, it would cost me a total of $25.00.  Compare that to buying (500) albums for $12.95 each, and it would cost me $6,475.00 total.  My CD's sit and rot, while I listen to all the ripped music on my PC every day, so I don't care about the material I get when buying the CD.  However, it doesn't necessarily mean that the "future isn't bright" for CD sales just because it clearly makes no sence for me personally.

Clearly we want different things from music services.  However, the more important question for me is still ...

Is musicrebellion legal in the USA?

P.S. - David ... if you figure shipping to Spain into the equation, it may actually make sence for you as well.

[Deivit]

Rick,

You're right... I should have said that the future is not bright according to my personal tastes.  If you can find several songs that you like at $0.05 or $0.10 and you don't care for complete albums, then that service is good for you!

What respects to the main question... is it legal? I should say that it seems legal. Take a look at the last question of their faq...

http://www.musicrebellion.com/userFAQ.jsp

they claim that the RIAA put that service as an example of what a legal service is.

[Bartabedian]

BTW, circumventing the DRM and getting a digital copy are much easier than you think. Any decent soundcard with an S/PDIF i/o port will do the trick nicely. Just loop the output to the input and record in your favorite sound editor. Bingo, digital wav copy (sure it's real time, but it's a perfect ditgital copy nonetheless). There's other ways as well...

...I don't mind paying for the downloads, but being told what format I must use and where I can use it for a lossy format is just being ridiculous.

[Galley]

BTW, circumventing the DRM and getting a digital copy are much easier than you think. Any decent soundcard with an S/PDIF i/o port will do the trick nicely. Just loop the output to the input and record in your favorite sound editor. Bingo, digital wav copy (sure it's real time, but it's a perfect ditgital copy nonetheless). There's other ways as well...

...I don't mind paying for the downloads, but being told what format I must use and where I can use it for a lossy format is just being ridiculous.

I never thought about that.  I have converted several 192Kbps RealAudio 10 files purchased from the Real Music Store to 128Kbps MP3s and they sound fine.  Naturally, I used the "burn CD, rip CD" method.

[Branxx]

"I'm searching for the best LEGAL (in the USA) option for downloading 128 kps MP3's"

It looks to me that what are you looking for does not exists in the USA.