Sites to purchase and download music from, aside from iTunes

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lake_wrangler
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Sites to purchase and download music from, aside from iTunes

Post by lake_wrangler »

I'm sure I could Google terms like "music downloads" and whatnot, but it would only give me facts, such as the fact that such and such sites exist... But it wouldn't tell me whether they have a good selection, how reliable they are, how good are the prices, and so on.

So I figured I'd ask here (or should I have put this into the Audio Room sub-forum...):

Does anyone know of/has anyone made use of websites where one can purchase and download music from, at decent prices, that is NOT iTunes?

If so, how reliable are they? Do they have a good selection of styles/genres/artists and such? Anything else I would need to know about them, before choosing to join/subscribe to/download from?

Any downsides to them? Any particular sites I should definitely avoid?
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Dave
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Re: Sites to purchase and download music from, aside from iT

Post by Dave »

One place to check out is Bandcamp. It's a site that bands and individual artists can use to sell their music directly to the public. You probably won't find any of the "signed with a big label" acts here, but you will find lots of talented artists who want to cut out the middlemen.

As I understand it, the artists set the prices and terms, and Bandcamp takes about 20% in fees... the rest goes to the artist. In most cases, purchasing allows you to stream the music via the Bandcamp app, and also to download the music in any of several formats.
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Re: Sites to purchase and download music from, aside from iT

Post by GlytchMeister »

I think Google sells music directly. Google Play, or something?

I’m on an iDevice (but looking to switch to Samsung soon), so I’m not real familiar with anything besides ITunes.

I think you might also be able to download music from SoundCloud.
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Alkarii
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Re: Sites to purchase and download music from, aside from iT

Post by Alkarii »

I think Loudr is another one. I haven't bought music in a while, and usually I try to get physical copies when it's possible.
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TazManiac
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Re: Sites to purchase and download music from, aside from iT

Post by TazManiac »

I went looking into TIDAL to see how it's been playing out, but there is a lot of flac to wade through (pun intended but still- )

Seems lots of Haters are muddying the water in terms of press & news reports.

"It's too 'spensive!", "Nobody wants to pay extra for lossless recordings!", etc. It also seems to have a lively artist roster but it's limited at the same time.
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Re: Sites to purchase and download music from, aside from iT

Post by jwhouk »

Noisetrade works for me. Only downside is emails and occasional asks for $ for artists.
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TazManiac
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Re: Sites to purchase and download music from, aside from iT

Post by TazManiac »

Question: How do your requirements stack up against Streaming services, instead of purchase & own type situations?

The reason I ask is this headline caught my eye: http://variety.com/2018/music/news/spot ... 202682440/

Spotify Tests Free Stations App for Leanback Listening

Music streaming service Spotify released a new Android app that’s all about free music Tuesday. The app, dubbed Stations, lets users stream curated music stations without much manual intervention — and without having to pay for a Spotify Premium subscription.

“Stations is the easiest way to listen to the music you love. Totally free,” according to a description of the app on Google Play Music. “Stations is an experiment by Spotify that makes it easy for anyone to listen to great music.”

With the app, Spotify apparently wants to solve the infinite choice problem that a lot of the premium music services have. Again, from the app description: “When you have access to all the music in the world, finding the right thing to play can feel like a challenge. With Stations, you can listen immediately, and switching stations is simple and seamless — no searching or typing needed.”

Stations will offer some personalization as users listen to their favorite programs, according to the app description. The app was first spotted by app analytics provider Sensor Tower.

An app that focuses on leanback listening via personalized radio stations: That approach seems very reminiscent to Pandora’s original streaming service. Coincidentally, Pandora’s latest apps also instantly begin music playback upon launch them, much like Stations promises to do.

At this point, it’s unclear how much of a focus Spotify will put on Stations. The app is currently incompatible with some key Android devices, including Google’s Pixel phone, and had been downloaded less than 100 times at the time of writing. “We’re testing new features all the time,” a Spotify spokesperson said when contacted for this story, declining to comment further.
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lake_wrangler
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Re: Sites to purchase and download music from, aside from iT

Post by lake_wrangler »

Thanks for the various suggestions. I haven't had time to check them out, yet, but I will.

Meanwhile, I might as well ask now, whether those various services have older, established stuff as well, or mostly new/emerging/indie stuff?

I will clarify a bit as to what I'm trying to do:

I am looking for some oldies (50s, 60s, 70s), some Motown, and some Classic Country, which I can purchase and download, to save them on both my computer and on a USB key so as to play them at an event, later on. I want the purchase to be legal (i.e. I won't look for the music on YouTube and use a browser extension to download them).

I can't tell you the titles I'm looking for, right now... I have to parse through the various offerings of Time Life music, to listen to the excerpts and figure out which ones I want (because I certainly don't want everything that comes on any particular CD of theirs), and look for them elsewhere afterwards to purchase them.

Thanks in advance for any particular additional help you can give me.
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Dave
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Re: Sites to purchase and download music from, aside from iT

Post by Dave »

lake_wrangler wrote:Thanks for the various suggestions. I haven't had time to check them out, yet, but I will.

Meanwhile, I might as well ask now, whether those various services have older, established stuff as well, or mostly new/emerging/indie stuff?
I'd say, "it depends".

You'll probably find more newer music than older, for a bunch of reasons. As I understand it, there's a good deal of contention about online/streaming/purchase rights for music which was originally recorded back before the days that online music-buying was even possible. Some labels have apparently claimed that they bought "all the rights" back then (including as-yet-not-invented distribution channels) but some of the bands and artists have been pushing back on this quite hard.

For some bands and artists, the original sale-of-rights was for a limited period of time, and the rights have reverted to the band - in which case it's up to the band to decide whether to offer the music on-line. Some do, some don't, and in some cases it's not clear who (among the living) would even have the right to do so these days.

Even with the rights, it takes a bunch of effort to put the music up for online sale. For a lot of older music, whomever has the rights may not have decided that it was worth their effort to do so.

So, I think you'll have to look and see.
I will clarify a bit as to what I'm trying to do:

I am looking for some oldies (50s, 60s, 70s), some Motown, and some Classic Country, which I can purchase and download, to save them on both my computer and on a USB key so as to play them at an event, later on. I want the purchase to be legal (i.e. I won't look for the music on YouTube and use a browser extension to download them).
Big red flag here. In the U.S. at least, online purchase (and even hard-media purchase on CD or LP or ???) conveys only the right to private performance, for personal use. Any form of public performance at an event (and in this case "public" seems to mean "for more than you and your immediate family", not "open to the general public" or "somebody must buy a ticket and pay to get in") requires separate licensing and the paying of a separate fee, usually paid through a national licensing organization.

You can get hit with a nasty "cease and desist" or "pay your fees" letter from a big national organization's lawyercats if you don't do your paperwork up front.

I'm not sure about the details of the legal situation in Canada but I believe it's generally similar to what takes place here in the U.S.
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lake_wrangler
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Re: Sites to purchase and download music from, aside from iT

Post by lake_wrangler »

Dave wrote:
lake_wrangler wrote:Thanks for the various suggestions. I haven't had time to check them out, yet, but I will.

Meanwhile, I might as well ask now, whether those various services have older, established stuff as well, or mostly new/emerging/indie stuff?
I'd say, "it depends".

You'll probably find more newer music than older, for a bunch of reasons. As I understand it, there's a good deal of contention about online/streaming/purchase rights for music which was originally recorded back before the days that online music-buying was even possible. Some labels have apparently claimed that they bought "all the rights" back then (including as-yet-not-invented distribution channels) but some of the bands and artists have been pushing back on this quite hard.

For some bands and artists, the original sale-of-rights was for a limited period of time, and the rights have reverted to the band - in which case it's up to the band to decide whether to offer the music on-line. Some do, some don't, and in some cases it's not clear who (among the living) would even have the right to do so these days.

Even with the rights, it takes a bunch of effort to put the music up for online sale. For a lot of older music, whomever has the rights may not have decided that it was worth their effort to do so.

So, I think you'll have to look and see.
Interesting. I hadn't thought of that. I hope I don't end up having to purchase a whole 7, 8, or 9 CD set from Time Life, just for a handful of songs...
Dave wrote:
lake_wrangler wrote:I will clarify a bit as to what I'm trying to do:

I am looking for some oldies (50s, 60s, 70s), some Motown, and some Classic Country, which I can purchase and download, to save them on both my computer and on a USB key so as to play them at an event, later on. I want the purchase to be legal (i.e. I won't look for the music on YouTube and use a browser extension to download them).
Big red flag here. In the U.S. at least, online purchase (and even hard-media purchase on CD or LP or ???) conveys only the right to private performance, for personal use. Any form of public performance at an event (and in this case "public" seems to mean "for more than you and your immediate family", not "open to the general public" or "somebody must buy a ticket and pay to get in") requires separate licensing and the paying of a separate fee, usually paid through a national licensing organization.

You can get hit with a nasty "cease and desist" or "pay your fees" letter from a big national organization's lawyercats if you don't do your paperwork up front.

I'm not sure about the details of the legal situation in Canada but I believe it's generally similar to what takes place here in the U.S.
What about a wedding reception? Doesn't the DJ normally have his own library of music that he brings with him? Did he have to do all that rigamarole you mentioned? That's the event I was talking about... I was just going to find the music I needed, purchase it legally, and hand it to the DJ when the time came...

So they'd be friends and family, church members, extended family, etc. And the only thing they would have paid would be the cost of the meal at whatever reception hall the reception took place, not tickets to attend, or anything like that...
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Dave
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Re: Sites to purchase and download music from, aside from iT

Post by Dave »

lake_wrangler wrote:What about a wedding reception? Doesn't the DJ normally have his own library of music that he brings with him? Did he have to do all that rigamarole you mentioned? That's the event I was talking about... I was just going to find the music I needed, purchase it legally, and hand it to the DJ when the time came...

So they'd be friends and family, church members, extended family, etc. And the only thing they would have paid would be the cost of the meal at whatever reception hall the reception took place, not tickets to attend, or anything like that...
In principle, yes, I believe the DJ is required to have "public performance rights" to the music being played. People who do this as a legit business typically get some sort of blanket license, I believe, and (if they're trying to be fully legit) may keep and submit a log of what they've played to demonstrate that their license covers the actual material used.

What I'd suggest is that you contact the DJ in question well in advance, and raise the issue with him/her. It's likely that the cost of the licensing would be included as part of the contract fee paid to a professional DJ, so the DJ might be able and willing to accept new songs from you to be played.

There's a good overview here.
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TazManiac
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Re: Sites to purchase and download music from, aside from iT

Post by TazManiac »

Dave, as usual, is on point here. I esp like the 'you have time, contact the DJ' aspect of his sage council.

I am/was temped to spell out 'wink & a nod' type encouragement but in addition to it being a public ceremony, Church Folk* being involved (w/ an expectation of doing things 'the Right Way'), and despite the learning curve of the ins & out of these behind-the-scenes machinations; they don't really have to impact/emburden the happy-couple, not really. You can do this 'the right way'.

I'm, myself, am tangentially (very) interested in these type of situations as well; in my case I like hosting 'Movie Nights', so far on a very small & intimate scale.
Scaling it up, even a little bit, will undoubtedly involve some of these very same issues, so, please, let us motor on...


btw* - Some of my best friends are Church Folk. 8])
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Re: Sites to purchase and download music from, aside from iT

Post by DinkyInky »

I use Amazon, as well as iTunes, but iTunes likes to choke on my digitally set up storybook albums(set from old records), plus kiddos nano was lost/stolen, and replacing it's expensive.
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