subscription

[cwsieben]

I realize that this might not be the best place to ask this question, but I haven't been able to find any reliable info anywhere about this.

My question is "What are the best subscription services for downloading music. Or, at least, where can I find information on the better subscription services?

I figure if I can pay a small yearly fee, its more than worth it to get rid of some of the headaches that you ultimately encounter with peer to peer file sharing. Any info that you could give me on this would be appreciated.

[TC75580]

Do you want services that offer mp3s for a subscription? Because you won't find many :mellow

[hawkburn]

Why would you want a subsciption for MONEY when there is Blubster, KaZaA Lite, and WinMX, for NO MONEY?

[cwsieben]

There are actually a pretty good number of subscription services out there. Few dozen from what I've seen. And what I know about them so far is that they allow access to most of the big names in the file sharing world bundled into an easy interface that has many more options than any of the file sharing programs that exist now.

I know it seems strange when there are so many for free, but let's face it. They are a pain in the behind. What would the big deal be paying $30-$40 a year to give you access to most or all of the big file sharing programs in one place, and that one place isn't constantly bombarding ads in your face. That's the price of two CD's, more access, more features, more options, less headaches. I'm just tired of so many people out there who have their files listed but when you go to get them, bam. Either they are not there or they limit you to the point where it would take you 4 hours to get one song.

I'd rather pay a few dollars to have more files to choose from and a bundle of features to make the whole thing better. Call me crazy but that seems a better bargain; you pay them a very small amount of money to take away a big headache for you. I was just hoping that someone would have info on it.

[cheapprick]

Good Lord, your advertisement has me hooked!!!

What's the name of this steal of a deal?

[cwsieben]

Sarcasm, interesting.

It's an alternative, not an advertising pitch. If you want to use the file sharing programs out there now, then more power to you. I have no problem with that. I've used them in the past, they've served me fairly well. But I simply wanted to know where I could find info on some subscription services, that's it.

If you don't know, then you don't have to leave a message. Because I well aware of the benefits of the free services that are available. I don't need the education on them; just the possibility of a viable alternative.

[Travis982]

cwsieben:

Don't be offended. People like to have fun with newbies.

You have a valid argument for people who just want to get music. Most of us like the challenge of attacking the RIAA, passing around our favourite songs, etc. in addition to just getting music. It's a little like hacking: The fun is seeing if you can get in, not what you find there. Like that worthless Eminem Show CD they claimed was hackproof: Everybody hacked it, but no one really wanted the songs.

I've never looked for any subscription sites, but you may find some good ones. If you find some, you should post them here, even if you get flamed, because there are probably some readers just like you that would be glad of the info, but are more shy about posting.

[cwsieben]

I kinda expected a hard time, especially with this question. I was hoping that someone here could same me the trouble of looking for them, but no sweat. Shouldn't take me that long to find the info I'm looking for.

Not that I feel any moral dilemma about getting songs for free. I figured, if it's available for me to do that, then I will. t's closer to the truth to say that I don't care. I know that this type of file swapping is illegal. Whatever explanations people say to try to justify this, it's very plain that we are violating copyright laws by downloading these songs without paying for them. And whatever we might think of that particular artist or song is irrelevant. I accepted this fact long ago.

I just think of it as being practical. Someone has given me the means and opportunity to get these songs for free, which I haven't exactly turned down. But I'm not gonna be upset if this comes to an end. That may sound hypocritical but, to me, its not a big deal. And if I can find an even more efficient way to share files by paying a small fee, I'll do it (even though most people around here wouldn't). If worse comes to worse, I could always go back to hitting up BMG for music. 11 CDs for a total cost of about $35: not as big a steal as this but not bad.

[notbob]

you may be shocked to find out i pay for one--emusic.com

real burnable mp3s (at 128, not great, but they sound good to me) and you download as many full albums as you want--maybe they don't have current stuff, but they have lots of stuff i like (probably other old guys like me will like too)

they have everything ccr ever made, that's worth 10 bucks for sure

[notbob]

as for record clubs, here's one for you--columbia house has a 10 day return policy--rip them and send them back--12 discs delivered to your door, cost=0$

open the box, rip them, tape the box back up, write "return to sender" (elvis style) on the box and be 12 discs richer (you could scan the covers too if you are that obsessive)

[cwsieben]

Somehow or another, I got one of those free trials from EMusic, 100 free songs, no obligation. I could only find a handful that I really wanted though. But if you go in for something older or much less mainstream, then EMusic is a great deal. I spent a couple of weeks with the trial, seeing if they might put up something else that I would want. They didn't, but I searched around enough to see that it is an excellent way to go if you like the music they have. Hopefully, there are others out there like that.

The search continues...