I gave my daughter an MP3 Player. It's our first. I googled to find out where to get music off the internet fully expecting to pay for songs. BearShare 9 popped up and claims to offer free and legal sharing of songs. Is this legit? Where do you get your tunes from? Thanks
legit or legal? if it's free, it's not legal, but could still be legit. i do not pay money for anything that i download and use services that are not legal, but i know what im doing and only download using legit services so as not to get viruses. legit and legal are not the same thing. that being said, i haven't used bearshare in years, and most of those napster like downloading programs aren't the most legit. if you know anything about file sharing (and im guessing you dont), you can get anything you want for free. if you don't, you use itunes.
Okay, so is Itunes the best deal for downloading music for a 9 year old? She wants a few songs from Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Big Time Rush, Justin Bieber, and such. BearShare claims to be 100% legal. Is this not true. Also, if it is, and I use it is there a big risk of getting viruses? Please recommend any good and safe places for us to look. I don't mind paying for the music. Is $1.49 the going rate like on 7 Digital Store that is loaded onto the Songbird player that came with the device. Is it legal to just download some songs off of her Uncle's files? Thanks again.
ITunes and Amazon are legal, legitimate stores for buying music. And it's almost a 100% certainty that you won't be at risk for exposure to viruses or malware by using those services. BearShare, Limewire and other P2P (peer to peer) systems engage in illegal file sharing, and may not only present a risk of computer viruses but also possible legal prosecution as these networks are known to be monitored by law enforcement.
Stick to iTunes or Amazon. I prefer Amazon. Every month Amazon has 100 albums for sale for $5 each, and usually there's at least one or two of the artists you listed. Right now they have 1000 albums up for $5 and have a lot of new releases, etc. at 7.99 or so. Individual tracks are priced at $.99.
I'd really like to hear an explanation for the distinction between "legit" and "legal". As someone with a legal background, I'm having a hard time understanding the distinction. I could understand "safe from viruses" from someone who will "actually deliver" the goods, but neither of those criteria make it "legal". It seems more like a distinction between a dope dealer that will actually deliver hydroweed and one who delivers skankweed for the same price. I have no desire to preach about the legal issues ( I used to do that, but it left a mark on my forehead), but I WOULD like to understand the thinking behind the positions on the subject. Just a matter of curiosity. There is a story, and I think it's about a young lady from SA, where she has a huge judgment against her for downloading p2p music. I don't think there is any "legal" question that she is screwed for stealing music and they definitely seem to be making an example of her, but then again there are bands who make efforts to give their music away for free (which makes no sense to me from even a twisted marketing mentality) and then there are artists who refuse to allow iTunes to rent their music (and that's about all that iTunes lets you do).
hypem.com I am not sure of the moral and ethical issues on using this site. i guess that is up for debate. It basically databases music blogs that offer assorted free mp3s; blogs like Stereogum, Music for Robots, Poptarts Sucked Toasted, etc. You can use their search engine and try your luck for any song. Most blogs remove the mp3s they post after a month or they expire, i guess. You usually can't find more than 3 or 4 mp3s per album by an artist. [so, it's nearly impossible to get a complete album] I assume it is legal and I have never gotten a virus from any site it databases. It doesn't involve any of that P2P stuff which would make me more nervous in regards to viruses. but yeah, Amazon and Itunes are the two best pay sites. I prefer Amazon, much better selection.
Thanks, I will check out itunes and amazon. NickDanger, BearShare (which I had never heard of until I googled) claims to be free and legal. I posted here to find out if this was a legit claim/site before visiting on my own. From the responses I am guessing that it is not. Thanks for the help.
Amazon is the right answer here. Typically cheaper than iTunes, plus it will download the music and add the files directly to iTunes if you want.
All of these posts have been very helpful. Live in OK - you really gave me the direct answers to the questions rattling around in my head. I think I am now ready to get my girl some tunes. Thanks!
Out of curiosity I did some digging about Bearshare and it looks like what Live in OK said is correct. It is free and legal. However, it appears that the free service simply allows you to play the music on your desktop. However, if you want to put the music on an MP3 player you have to have a subscription for that. I don't use Bearshare so I have no idea how much that would cost. Q. Can I put my BearShare subscription music onto an MP3 player? A: Yes you can. You can get a BearShare ToGo Subscription, and transfer BearShare music to your compatible mp3 player on an unlimited basis.
BTW, my kids are pretty much grown and they really like about half of my music. Much of what is being put out today is old stuff being "covered" by more nekkid chicks than the originals anyway. If you rip your own cd's into your music library (you DO have a music collection don't you?), you can easily download those to your daughter's mp3. Time is kinda of the essence when you give a kid something for xmas and that will start the ball rolling even if she hates your music. At least she can play SOMETHING. If she really takes to her mp3, she can rake in iTunes gift cards for many years from aunts and uncles who don't want to make a pink bunny suit for Ralphie or their niece.
Gizmodo Article - Why I ditched iTunes for Amazon btw, the article talks about lower quality of mp3 versus AAC (although for a long time, Apple's music was a lower quality). Amazon's music has a bit-rate of 256 kbps which is going to be sufficient for pretty much anyone but audiophiles.
