NFR Where do you download your music from ?

[Riversider]

We've been using Spotify for a while, but have had various problems with them so have just cancelled and we're now looking for an alternative,
Any recommendations greatly received  065.gif

[rweller86]

We've been using Spotify for a while, but have had various problems with them so have just cancelled and we're now looking for an alternative,
Any recommendations greatly received  065.gif

What problems do you have with Spotify? I use iTunes/Apple Music which suits me.

[Ronnief]

From my LP's and 45's.

[grandad]

I use the free "Simple mp3 downloader" which is on the Google Play Store for Android. I download to my Samsung Tablet. There is stuff from the 60´s & 70´s. They are pretty good at making recent releases available. Downside there are pop up ads.

[alfie]

iTunes, never have any issues

[AlexW132]

I download the songs off YouTube via conversion websites. It's not illegal unless you're distributing it.

[grandad]

iTunes, never have any issues

Not free though as many other sources are.

[Burt]

@Riversider, curious to understand what issues you have had with Spotify? I subscribe to Spotify Premium (for multiple accounts for me and the family) and have not had any problems...?

[The Equalizer]

I've been a Spotify user since it came out, and love it, but I decided to give Apple Music a go so that I could get all of my CDs on my iPhone. What a mistake-a to make-a! Most of my albums were instantly unavailable because they weren't in the Apple catalogue, and some had the tracks changed from single version to album version to random cut soundtrack version instantly and moved to a different album. It's shite.

Amazon is okay, but loads unavailable unless you want Amazon Unlimited too (I've got it with Prime, but the Unlimited is even more).

I'm going to scrap them all, burn my disks on to MiniDisk and have done with it.

[YankeeJim]

I use my cassette deck to record off my AM radio.  092.gif

[toshes mate]

Ah, cassettes and AM, what memories and hiss they doth yield, and yet despite the background, every bit as good, nay better, than an MP3.

Most downloaded stuff is not worth money being spent.  At one end it is low quality files often sold at higher price than loss-less CD quality prices - Apple (iTunes) started this particular rot.  At the other end you get supposed HD music files which are often 44.1/16bit  CD quality upsampled  and sold at more than the cost of the original CD.   The music industry is as big a rip off these days as anything else. 

If you really want to listen to music and hear it as a quality media then you need true high resolution recordings (which vinyl and analogue tapes were) with file sizes many times greater than an MP3 or even a CD quality recording.  Five minutes of relatively good recorded music should consume around 150 Mb of space in a file.  Most file sizes are much smaller than that and that means they are poor resolution. 

[rweller86]

I download the songs off YouTube via conversion websites. It's not illegal unless you're distributing it.

If the music is copyrighted, it is illegal to download it. Not sure who told you otherwise.

[AlexW132]

I download the songs off YouTube via conversion websites. It's not illegal unless you're distributing it.

If the music is copyrighted, it is illegal to download it. Not sure who told you otherwise.

Really? Well either way it's free to listen to on youtube if the distributor is the one sharing it

[toshes mate]

I download the songs off YouTube via conversion websites. It's not illegal unless you're distributing it.

If the music is copyrighted, it is illegal to download it. Not sure who told you otherwise.

It's illegal to make unsubstantiated claims about products in advertising or on sale and yet the 'free' market music industry shows contempt for the law every single day.  Someone downloading a pretty poor MP3 which they would not have bought with money damages exactly who?

[rweller86]

I download the songs off YouTube via conversion websites. It's not illegal unless you're distributing it.

If the music is copyrighted, it is illegal to download it. Not sure who told you otherwise.

It's illegal to make unsubstantiated claims about products in advertising or on sale and yet the 'free' market music industry shows contempt for the law every single day.  Someone downloading a pretty poor MP3 which they would not have bought with money damages exactly who?

Downloading someones music they have not given away for free would be the person missing out on the royalty, irrelevant of the quality of the audio.

AlexW132 - the music on youtube will have ads, so they would still profit from people listening.

[nose]

Ah, cassettes and AM, what memories and hiss they doth yield, and yet despite the background, every bit as good, nay better, than an MP3.

Most downloaded stuff is not worth money being spent.  At one end it is low quality files often sold at higher price than loss-less CD quality prices - Apple (iTunes) started this particular rot.  At the other end you get supposed HD music files which are often 44.1/16bit  CD quality upsampled  and sold at more than the cost of the original CD.   The music industry is as big a rip off these days as anything else. 

If you really want to listen to music and hear it as a quality media then you need true high resolution recordings (which vinyl and analogue tapes were) with file sizes many times greater than an MP3 or even a CD quality recording.  Five minutes of relatively good recorded music should consume around 150 Mb of space in a file.  Most file sizes are much smaller than that and that means they are poor resolution. 

I hate to be an anorak but CD is a better quality than vinyl because a) it is, and b) the physics supports this.
Any genuine blind comparison favours CD.
The issue is how vinyl is compressed and re-engineered at playback PLUS the way te groove is cut in the disc. It is not a genuine analogue one for one replicaton. Direct cut discs when new compare and occasionally exceed the best CD recordings but however you cut the cards, vinyl degrades and CDs do not so most of the time the performance of vinyl is degraded, it just a matter of fact.
MP3 is compressed and it is true that it is not quite as good as CD quality but if ripped at the maximum bit rate, it remains pretty good indeed.

having grown up with vinyl, I actually hate the format. Istill have a top notch deck, tne arm and catridge capable of outstanding performance but my mid range CD player is far better. To get quality from Vinyl you need such prescion equipment and most people just do not have that.
Access to track number three on vinyl is hard on CD is straightforward on MP3 is a dream. I love long playlists so i do not need to change the music on long journeys or for parties.... vinyl is a no go for that, CDs hard work MP3 brilliant

as an engineer I Love to discuss this kind of thing but in the end hifi for me was a means to an end, i.e. enjoying the music, rather than an end in its own right.

[nose]

I download the songs off YouTube via conversion websites. It's not illegal unless you're distributing it.

If the music is copyrighted, it is illegal to download it. Not sure who told you otherwise.

It's illegal to make unsubstantiated claims about products in advertising or on sale and yet the 'free' market music industry shows contempt for the law every single day.  Someone downloading a pretty poor MP3 which they would not have bought with money damages exactly who?

It damages the performer that gets no royalties. That is the purpose of the legislation, to ensure the performer is rewarded, and the people that promote or supply the music too.

[AlexW132]

I download the songs off YouTube via conversion websites. It's not illegal unless you're distributing it.

If the music is copyrighted, it is illegal to download it. Not sure who told you otherwise.

It's illegal to make unsubstantiated claims about products in advertising or on sale and yet the 'free' market music industry shows contempt for the law every single day.  Someone downloading a pretty poor MP3 which they would not have bought with money damages exactly who?

Downloading someones music they have not given away for free would be the person missing out on the royalty, irrelevant of the quality of the audio.

AlexW132 - the music on youtube will have ads, so they would still profit from people listening.

Exactly

[rweller86]

I download the songs off YouTube via conversion websites. It's not illegal unless you're distributing it.

If the music is copyrighted, it is illegal to download it. Not sure who told you otherwise.

It's illegal to make unsubstantiated claims about products in advertising or on sale and yet the 'free' market music industry shows contempt for the law every single day.  Someone downloading a pretty poor MP3 which they would not have bought with money damages exactly who?

Downloading someones music they have not given away for free would be the person missing out on the royalty, irrelevant of the quality of the audio.

AlexW132 - the music on youtube will have ads, so they would still profit from people listening.

Exactly

Just don't rip it from Youtube  :54:

[AlexW132]

I download the songs off YouTube via conversion websites. It's not illegal unless you're distributing it.

If the music is copyrighted, it is illegal to download it. Not sure who told you otherwise.

It's illegal to make unsubstantiated claims about products in advertising or on sale and yet the 'free' market music industry shows contempt for the law every single day.  Someone downloading a pretty poor MP3 which they would not have bought with money damages exactly who?

Downloading someones music they have not given away for free would be the person missing out on the royalty, irrelevant of the quality of the audio.

AlexW132 - the music on youtube will have ads, so they would still profit from people listening.

Exactly

Just don't rip it from Youtube  :54:

It's a hassle to do it anyway