Can you just buy MP3s these days?

Music
1

You know, without them being tied to ownership on a specific platform or whatever?

2

Bandcamp

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3

Pretty limited to who is on there though, right?

4

I often buy digital albums from junodownload.com because theyā€™re often quite cheap if you select 192kbps. Even cheaper if an album has less than 10 tracks. They donā€™t have everything though.

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5

yeah I guess, you canā€™t buy MP3s of anyone who isnā€™t thatā€™s true. Is emusic still going? I quit a couple of years ago as their range of titles had dropped considerably.

6

Youā€™ve still got Boomkat (again not comprehensive), and Amazon (boo).

7digital are still kicking around but feels a bit like theyā€™re in their death throes sadly. The homepage hasnā€™t updated in a very long time and I think a few artists have disappeared.

And some record label websites will sell their own mp3s directly.

7

Itā€™s just v infuriating that albums I own physically, that arenā€™t on Spotify, seemingly canā€™t be listened to properly unless Iā€™m listening to the physical version. Galling

8

You could make your own mp3s like we used to in the old days

2 Likes
9

Or just play your physical media of choice

10

What? Just rip your CDs and put them on your phone or listen through your computer. Same as always been.

You can still buy MP3s from Amazon and iTunes too. And use them on any media player you want. Amazon still does autorip too so if u buy a physical album you get the digital version too.

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11

Computers donā€™t have CD drives these days a lot of the time (also, the physicals are vinyls and I am in a ā€œlisten on headphones whilst workingā€ position)

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12

You can get a USB external DVD drive for about a tenner,. Got one on my desk just in case.

So the issue is you wanna listen to albums you own on vinyl digitally that arenā€™t on Spotify? Either buy the album on iTunes then, pirate it, or find a way to rip the LP.

13

iTunes MP3s havenā€™t been tied to Apple media players since 2007 I think

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14

This is helpful knowledge, thanks

15

All my modern records came with a card inside to get the MP3s.

TBH mate youā€™re living in the past if you think MP3s that are bought are locked into something. That hasnā€™t been true in well over 10 years I think and even then it was basically only ever that iTunes put copy protection on stuff like that.

When I was buying MP3s Iā€™d buy from Bandcamp if possible but otherwise from Google Play Music (now YouTube Music), 7Digital or Amazon.co.uk.

With Google and Amazon they try to scare you a bit by claiming you can only download them twice but you can get them via a ā€˜full downloadā€™ of your entire music library any time, itā€™s just twice you can do it conveniently, but thatā€™s enough because you just copy them everywhere the first time (and then you automatically have them in ā€˜the cloudā€™ for Amazon or YouTube so if you can be bothered having multiple apps you use them). I do recall leaning more heavily on the Google purchases if not Bandcamp because it was easier with my setup.

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16

Buying mp3 (plus WAV, FLAC etc) is still the way I consume 95% of my music. I use Bandcamp, Boomkat, A****n, Apple, Juno, Beatport, Bleepā€¦ whateverā€™s best for that particular album (Bandcamp is usually my first port of call, to get as much $ to the artist as possible). I donā€™t stream, buy vinyl for stuff I really love, and occasionally buy a CD 2nd hand or new if itā€™s the only format a new release comes out on (Iā€™m looking at you, Julian Cope)

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17

Sadly not always the case, Iā€™ve had to go to naughty places to get downloads of records Iā€™ve paid for more times than youā€™d expect. But yeah most should have them obv.

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18

How easy is this nowadays? When I was at uni it was hilariously simple. Just googled the name of an album and the word zip or mediafire.

19

I used to do this until recently with varying levels of success but it was getting harder and harder to find non-expired or non-dodgy results. Saw other disers mention Soulseek so I use that for it now.

(If Seanā€™s lawyers are reading this Iā€™d like to stress that this is only after Iā€™ve bought the vinyl)

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20

Iā€™ve got 50 or so albums Iā€™ve ripped to my computer for this reason, or I try to find them on Youtube - but yeah, coming across an album every now and again which isnā€™t on Spotify is irritating