jdm56 Posted April 10, 2006 Share Posted April 10, 2006 There's so many different sites, I find it overwhelming; especially considering I've never downloaded music in my life. Here's the criteria: It's gotta be cheap but legal. It needs to be easy to use. It needs to be compatible with the Sony PlayStation Portable, which handles mp3 and Sony's own ATRAC, plus I don't know what else. Ideally, it would allow burning to CD. And did I mention it needs to be cheap? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddvj Posted April 11, 2006 Share Posted April 11, 2006 Good luck with that. I don't know of any sites that you can legally download mp3 format. I don't know anything about ATRAC. You could try allofmp3, but it's questionable whether that's legal or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdm56 Posted April 11, 2006 Author Share Posted April 11, 2006 Well this is certainly discouraging! My oldest (13) is driving me nuts. He want's to do whatever his buddys are doing (of course). So I say, "where are they getting their tunes?" --he doesn't know. So I look and I find some sites that charge a single upfront payment (typically $35-40), and then you are entitled to all the downloads you want --music, movies, games-- all no extra charge. That sounds quite suspicious to me. They could sign up a thousand people at $40 a pop, then pull the plug in a week and take the money and run. The legit sites, the ones everyone has heard of (Rhapsody/i-tunes/Yahoo Music/Wal-Mart, etc) all are rather pricey for a teenager, especially if you want to archive your music to CD. I'll keep looking and if anyone has any suggestions, I would appreciate hearing them. ps - fwiw, I tell him to just go to super-wally-world and buy himself a handful of compilation CD's --you know, the "Super Mega Rap Smashes of the 90's", that kind of thing. But he's got it it his head he wants to download from the net. I think it's mostly a kid thing. Like I said earlier, he thinks his buddys are doing it, so of course, he thinks he needs to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Shmoe Posted April 11, 2006 Share Posted April 11, 2006 What about good ole' Napster? Aren't they legal now? Sorry, I don't know much about the "legal" sites [6] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theryugobuddy Posted April 11, 2006 Share Posted April 11, 2006 Shoot--Try allofmp3.com I've put in $10 at least four times--a typical album is $1.50. Its easy--especially if you download their allofmp3 explorer. Quality is top notch-- Its a Russian site--and I've had no problems after downloading at least 2 dozen CDs--and you can put in $10, which is not a huge commitment-- Hope the feds aren't looking at this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rplace Posted April 11, 2006 Share Posted April 11, 2006 How did you pay for Allofmp3? Xrost is no longer working...that was the only way I felt comfortable. It is a slick set up and pretty fast. I surely question the legality of it...but who knows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott0527 Posted April 11, 2006 Share Posted April 11, 2006 What about good ole' Napster? Aren't they legal now? Sorry, I don't know much about the "legal" sites [6] Good old Napster is legal now. Most tunes are $.99 each. You can subsribe for $14.95/month and download as many songs as you want to your computer or mp3 player. But you can't burn them to a disc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
formica Posted April 11, 2006 Share Posted April 11, 2006 You could try allofmp3, but it's questionable whether that's legal or not. Their laws allow it (bulk licensing pricing)... but were written before the internet's "global" market time, so it wasn't intended for export. This goes even further to demonstrate the RIAA price fixing... where wealthier countries pay a serious premium versus those with lower costs of living. The recording industry is lobbying to close the loophole... but I have no qualms about it... Rob PS: they are also pressuring Apple to switch to a variable pricing plan where you pay more for hit singles... and less for the album fillers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 itunes is 99 cents a download and comes in mp3... but you own the song. Napster and yahoo and walmart, you do not own the songs and when you end the subscription at usually 14.99 a month all your songs dissappear too or they will not work the next month as they need to be updated and verified once a month. You can do a buy option but then again it is the same price as itunes.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddvj Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 itunes is not MP3, it is "Protected" MP4, and you don't really "own" it. You can not play it on the PSP, or any other MP3 player besides the iPod, you can only play it on so many "authorized" computers. Napster and Yahoo use WMA, so again, not a solution for the PSP. Like I said originally, good luck. If your son's buddies are downloading, they probably aren't doing it legally. You could always rip your own, that might be an opportunity to teach your kid about good sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hooting_monkey Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 Call me old fashioned, but nothing replaces limewire or bittorrent for those hard to find songs. Might be illegal, but I don't think it even compares to some of the crimes that goes on in out execuitive branch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theryugobuddy Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 How did you pay for Allofmp3? Xrost is no longer working...that was the only way I felt comfortable. It is a slick set up and pretty fast. I surely question the legality of it...but who knows. Bank of America automatically cleared the transactions through Verified by Visa. They are as afraid of fraud as I am. It is a slick system and downloads are fast with no problems so far-the selection is extensive. I have not found everything I wanted, but with many I've found I'd have to pay a premium on Amazon--and it was less than $2. --99 cents is no bargain! I'm sure allofmp3 will go the way of Napster eventually, but it is a superior service now and I'm using it while I can! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksonbart Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 Call me old fashioned, but nothing replaces limewire or bittorrent for those hard to find songs. Might be illegal, but I don't think it even compares to some of the crimes that goes on in out execuitive branch. Old fashioned? I don't know what the hell your talking about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fletcherkane Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 Go to www.connect.com This is the easiest way to get music that is compatible with PSP. It is Sony's own music download site. You will need to download the connect player (similiar to apples itunes...) Then you can purchase music at .99 cents per song. Available in MP3, or Atrac. I have used it with my Sony Clie for a couple years. No problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdm56 Posted April 12, 2006 Author Share Posted April 12, 2006 Thanks, fletcherkane. Geez, why didn't I look there?? I just feel so...stooopid.[:$] One thing - it is kind of reassuring to see some contradiction in all the responses. At least I ain't the only one confused! Thanks to all...and I think 99 cents per song is a rip-off too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddvj Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 Actually, I did go to Sony's website before I responded, but I couldn't tell what the deal was, so I didn't comment on it. Of course, being from Sony, you're probably downloading all kinds of Spyware when you sign up. You might want to think twice before trying to uninstall. [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdm56 Posted April 14, 2006 Author Share Posted April 14, 2006 toddvj wrote the following post at 04-12-2006 9:56 PM: Actually, I did go to Sony's website before I responded, but I couldn't tell what the deal was, so I didn't comment on it. Of course, being from Sony, you're probably downloading all kinds of Spyware when you sign up. You might want to think twice before trying to uninstall. Spyware? ...SONY?? ...naaaaaaahhhh!!! [] Actually, I did go there and I thought it looked just like what I needed for the kids. Especially since I need PSP compatibility. Heck, I might use it some too because apparently you can burn uncompressed CD audio, MP3, or ATRAC. I still think 99 cents per tune is too high. but I saw a lot of albums for $9.99, which is a bit better I suppose. Still, if there is just one or two songs from an album that you want, it makes no sense to buy the album. And that seems to be how kids want it. Shoot, I started out buying 45 RPM singles myself. Anyway, I downloaded their software. (which took a long time) I seem to be using a different browser than IE when I double-click the desktop shortcut to "Connect.com". It doesn't open with IE, so what's going on with that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fletcherkane Posted April 15, 2006 Share Posted April 15, 2006 It doesn't open in IE. Just like Itunes, it is its own program with access to the internet. Windows Media Player, and Real Player are two other programs that do much the same thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.