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Legal FLAC Download Sites

Started by bluewater, January 24, 2008, 19:38:35

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bluewater

It's the way in the future - to download music in Flac format. I've found/tested
three places so far that sell lossless downloads.
If you know sites that sell music in FLAC/lossless or have
good/bad experience with them, please
add them to my list. I am a happy customer myself.

Sites that are malware/bloatware/spyware/dictature free... No DRM, No WMA,...

Personally I have no interest in itunes as it requires you to install "itunes" to your computer, and i don't like any sites that require you to
install a program/add-on specific to the site to your computer. But if you have
experience in itunes etc., tell us what are the good sides in them, do they sell lossless?

These are the three sites i found and spent money on, mostly they are electronic music:

1. Magnatune

+ you can _choose_ how much you want to pay, so it can be very cheap for you
+ artists get 50%
+ 60 days time to download as many times in as many formats you want
+ 3 of your friends can download also
+ you can ask for them to send you a physical cd-r of your purchase
- the artwork that comes with the downloads looks like crap

2. MusicZeit - download platform

+ customer support is great
+ 30 days time to download 3 times
+ quality artwork scans with albums
- limited in number of artists, probably only their own artists

3. Music is here

+ some quite rare items
+ bulletproof for payments - "verified by vista" system
- you have to be very careful when downloading because
- you get only 1 chance to download and if something goes wrong when downloading you're on
your own. so i avoid it if i can find the material elsewhere

Definitly the Magnatune way of doing things works.
For payments I used Visa electron. Paypal i don't have.

Common thing to the sites is: pay only for the albums/tracks (no initial payments), free registration

links to the sites:

http://magnatune.com/

http://www.musiczeit.com/

http://musicishere.com/
Life's too short to listen to lossy music


japanesebaby

good topic!
thanks for your research and sharing the links. :smth023

Ay, in the very temple of Delight
Veil'd Melancholy has her sovran shrine

bluewater

Typo where i said "verified by vista" meant "Verified By Visa"
Life's too short to listen to lossy music


bluewater

This site seems to sell Radiohead - In Rainbows in Flac.
http://www.7digital.com/artists/radiohead/in-rainbows/
Most of the other records and other artists however are in mp3/wma/aac only
Life's too short to listen to lossy music

bluewater

Linn Records offer higher-than-cd quality FLAC's:

1. SACD and Dvd-audio quality (96khz, 24bits)
2. Studio masters that have not been to CD

catalogue is jazz/classical/folk

http://www.linnrecords.com/
Life's too short to listen to lossy music


Steve

Quote from: bluewater on January 27, 2008, 11:54:16
Linn Records offer higher-than-cd quality FLAC's:

1. SACD and Dvd-audio quality (96khz, 24bits)
2. Studio masters that have not been to CD

catalogue is jazz/classical/folk

http://www.linnrecords.com/

JAZZ!! :evil:

All very well if you can afford a DSD recorder (& like Jazz      :smth078 )
Cheers
Steve
I know tomorrow's going to taste like cake
http://www.balatonfured.hu/en_index.php

japanesebaby

thanks for more links again, bluewater. :smth023

i've been checking some of these stores for their classical music collections, partially out of professional interest, and it's delightful to find a lot of old music there - by "old" i don't mean something by mozart but something truly old, like some medieval/renessaince stuff that isn't very easy to find from any common record stores. also Magnatude seems to have a lot of very decent bach recordings, by some american bach society which i hadn't heard of before. pretty decent performances, the ones i listened to.
to be honest, i was halfway expecting "classical" to mean something utter crap like "new age classical" or some utterly uninteresting movie soundtrack-ish "new-romantic" stuff that's composed today way too much and which always gets tucked under the name "classical", just as if it had some real relevance (which it doesn't). :roll:
it's nice to notice it's not like that.

now, if there only was something similar for new music - and by "new" i mean truly new, modern/avantgarde classical music composed today. that's another area where it's sometimes hard to find recordings...


ps. looking at the list of performers found on linnrecords classical section, good names in there. so jazz or no jazz, i do like stores that try to offer quality, whatever the field of music was - you just need to choose the field you want...;) so if you don't like jazz, then don't download. i won't download jazz either but it doesn't mean the store was bad... 
Ay, in the very temple of Delight
Veil'd Melancholy has her sovran shrine

Steve

@Marika. You're right. I'll ignore the "J word" ;)

Linn are a very renowned audio company actually (my first turntable was an LP12 & it was dreamy).
So if they are offering studio masters, then if the style appeals, I would highly reccomend them.
They aren't some "McMusic" outfit & their sound engineers are brilliant.
Cheers
Steve
I know tomorrow's going to taste like cake
http://www.balatonfured.hu/en_index.php

bluewater

For japanesebaby & others (including me) interested in J.S.Bach recordings in Flac: Czech Radio listeners and the visitors of www.rozhlas.cz have a unique opportunity to download the six complete Brandenburg Concertos in mp3 / Flac

http://www.rozhlas.cz/d-dur/download_eng

New Czech Radio recording of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos
Marek Å tryncl - Autor:Martin Kutil

"The Brandenburg Concertos are an essential work in the baroque orchestral repertory, and yet we had to wait until last year to get the first complete Czech Radio recording performed on ancient instruments and based on the original scores, in line with modern standards of authentic performance."
Life's too short to listen to lossy music

Steve

Apparently http://www.bleep.com/ are starting to offer Flacs too on their "warp" download site
Cheers
Steve
I know tomorrow's going to taste like cake
http://www.balatonfured.hu/en_index.php

bluewater

Burning Shed is an online label and store specialising in
Singer-Songwriter, Progressive, Ambient/Electronica and Art Rock music. Downloadable artists include Porcupine Tree, A marble calm, the resonance association

+ 24 hours time to download the purchase
- no chance to pre-listen to the records. i would probably purchase some music there
if i had a chance to listen to the artists

http://www.burningshed.com/store/downloads/

Life's too short to listen to lossy music

Steve

Quote from: bluewater on January 30, 2008, 18:47:51
Burning Shed is an online label and store specialising in
Singer-Songwriter, Progressive, Ambient/Electronica and Art Rock music. Downloadable artists include Porcupine Tree, A marble calm, the resonance association

+ 24 hours time to download the purchase
- no chance to pre-listen to the records. i would probably purchase some music there
if i had a chance to listen to the artists

http://www.burningshed.com/store/downloads/



Porcupine Tree. Has to be done........
Cheers
Steve
I know tomorrow's going to taste like cake
http://www.balatonfured.hu/en_index.php

bluewater

Quote from: japanesebaby on January 29, 2008, 12:30:12
now, if there only was something similar for new music - and by "new" i mean truly new, modern/avantgarde classical music composed today. that's another area where it's sometimes hard to find recordings...

You might want to take a look at Cdbaby.com. They have the widest selection of
classical/ avant garde i've seen. No Flac support though, but
you can opt for them to send the cd's without plastics, then the postage is only
5$ or so for a pile of cd's. I just ordered some Earnest Woodall cd's there. A very nice place.

edit: Or you might want to check out for example this guy called "Igor Ogogo" at music is here. Cdbaby and Music is here have quite similar selection, i find myself buying mostly from music is here and previewing the albums at cdbaby (2min of each track).
Life's too short to listen to lossy music

bluewater

For fans of King Crimson, Robert Fripp & Eno, Adrian Belew live recordings - there's some independent music company called "DGM live" born from the ruins of EG Music Group. They use bittorrent for downloads

http://www.dgmlive.com/archive.htm

But may i quote one user:
"I must say, you’ve got some audacity to charge money for this rubbish"

edit: there are some great free downloads though...

Robert Fripp's "Glass And Breath" album is downloadable for free (register first)
here:

http://www.dgmlive.com/archive.htm?artist=14&show=1167

Life's too short to listen to lossy music

yrbadrenau

Quote from: Steve on January 29, 2008, 12:19:59
Quote from: bluewater on January 27, 2008, 11:54:16
Linn Records offer higher-than-cd quality FLAC's:

1. SACD and Dvd-audio quality (96khz, 24bits)
2. Studio masters that have not been to CD

catalogue is jazz/classical/folk

http://www.linnrecords.com/

JAZZ!! :evil:

All very well if you can afford a DSD recorder (& like Jazz      :smth078 )


Some problems with jazz??? I'm a Cure fan since 1985, but i'm a jazz fan too. Charles Mingus, John Coltrane and Charlie Parker, like the holy trinity for me... 
Like 17 seconds, Faith and Pornography... in another way.
And just listen one time in your life to Ella Fitzgerald Berlin concert. The only artist who makes me "pleurer de joie" (cry because i'm happy, shit i can't translate this). jazz is just beautiful. just open your mind
34 years old,father of two children(Alia-14 & Theo-12), curefan since 1985.