Showing posts with label download. Show all posts
Showing posts with label download. Show all posts
Thursday, 29 January 2009
Where to buy DRM-free MP3s online
Written for internet-connected, iTunes and Mac OS-using, (South) Africans
If, like Steve Jobs, Mark Shuttleworth and I, you believe that the Digital Rights Management-free music is ultimately the way to go, then your options for purchasing music online in SA are still suprisingly limited :(.
As Lloyd Gedye wrote, despite the example of the success of the iTunes music store (launched way back in April 2003!) and EMI's success with moving away from DRM-protected music, the South African music industry is still dead-set on enforcing DRM! So much so, that typing in 'buy mp3' into its website's search engine delivers no results. DOH!
So, what options does this leave you with; as a socially-responsible customer, who wants to own (not rent!) the music you buy online? Here are three suggestions:
1 Get DRM-free MP3s from overseas
Check-out how to buy music from Amazon relatively easily at http://www.tuaw.com/2007/09/25/amazon-mp3-a-quick-review. Alternatively, try prefueled.com or mp3.com.
2 Buy from your local...
You can buy proudly South African, DRM-free mp3s online from these shops*:
Rhythm Records offers mp3s from R 7 a pop!
Music.Overtone focusses on "high quality South African music".
3 Do the iTunes Music Store work-around...
Visit MediaWob to buy a voucher that you can redeem through the iTunes Music Store. The process is easy.
* Please note that this is not an exhaustive survey; these are the DRM free sites I could find through search engine look-ups. Please post other shop suggestions. Thanks!
Related links
Your 99c belong to the RIAA – Steve Jobs
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/11/07/your_99c_belong/
Waiting for iTunes to come to SA? Don’t. Use Amazon MP3!
http://www.jasonbagley.com/2007/09/27/waiting-for-itunes-to-come-to-sa-dont-use-amazon-mp3/
Find South African Music is a resource for promoting and exposing South African music to the world.
http://www.findsamusic.co.za/
If, like Steve Jobs, Mark Shuttleworth and I, you believe that the Digital Rights Management-free music is ultimately the way to go, then your options for purchasing music online in SA are still suprisingly limited :(.
As Lloyd Gedye wrote, despite the example of the success of the iTunes music store (launched way back in April 2003!) and EMI's success with moving away from DRM-protected music, the South African music industry is still dead-set on enforcing DRM! So much so, that typing in 'buy mp3' into its website's search engine delivers no results. DOH!
So, what options does this leave you with; as a socially-responsible customer, who wants to own (not rent!) the music you buy online? Here are three suggestions:
1 Get DRM-free MP3s from overseas
Check-out how to buy music from Amazon relatively easily at http://www.tuaw.com/2007/09/25/amazon-mp3-a-quick-review. Alternatively, try prefueled.com or mp3.com.
2 Buy from your local...
You can buy proudly South African, DRM-free mp3s online from these shops*:
Rhythm Records offers mp3s from R 7 a pop!
Music.Overtone focusses on "high quality South African music".
3 Do the iTunes Music Store work-around...
Visit MediaWob to buy a voucher that you can redeem through the iTunes Music Store. The process is easy.
* Please note that this is not an exhaustive survey; these are the DRM free sites I could find through search engine look-ups. Please post other shop suggestions. Thanks!
Related links
Your 99c belong to the RIAA – Steve Jobs
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/11/07/your_99c_belong/
Waiting for iTunes to come to SA? Don’t. Use Amazon MP3!
http://www.jasonbagley.com/2007/09/27/waiting-for-itunes-to-come-to-sa-dont-use-amazon-mp3/
Find South African Music is a resource for promoting and exposing South African music to the world.
http://www.findsamusic.co.za/
Friday, 26 December 2008
Download album artwork and lyrics into iTunes without using the iTunes music store
Written mainly for South Africa's Mac OSX, iTunes-using, internet-connected, music fans.
As of posting, the iTunes music store does still not sell music in South Africa :(. So, if you want to select a tune or album to play using Apple's nifty Coverflow viewing option, this service is not going to look like it should {i.e. loads of blank squares, instead of album artwork}.
To fix this on a Mac*, you should download the free GimmeSomeTune software from http://gimmesometune.com. After installing it, check that the following preferences are active:
- Start GimmeSomeTune with iTunes
- Fetch cover artwork from the internet when the song has none
- Fetch lyrics from the internet when the song has none
Launch iTunes, press play, check the GimmeSomeTune icon shows network activity and GimmeSomeTune will start collecting album covers and lyrics for each song you play...
If GimmeSomeTune doesn't download album artwork, try these work-arounds:
1 Check the song's fields for Name, Artist, Album Artist and Album are all present and correct. The Album Artist's is often blank; filling it in often delivers positive results.
2 Check that no blank spaces are left at the ned of the texts in these fields.
3 Check that the album's name doesn't feature extraneous information (i.e. Felt Mountain Bonus CD2 (UK release) should be changed to simply Felt Mountain by deleting it [or cutting out Bonus CD2 (UK release) and pasting it into the comments box]. From what I've seen, iTunes still knows CD1 from CD2 after this information is removed, so this shouldn't interfere with playing an album's songs in the album's original order.
Once you've changed the song's information, replay it: GimmeSomeTune should be able to identify, then fetch, the album's artwork. If you've got many tunes, I suggest you let iTunes play your music library with shuffle selected. This is a relatively painless way of getting the most album covers in the quickest way!
If you still can't get the album artwork you want, do a search with Google images (listing the artist and album name). Choose the best resolution image, open its page, then drag-and-drop the album's arwork into iTune's blank Artwork box.
I hope following this post's advice helps you make the most of Coverflow; whether it's on your desktop, laptop, iPod, iPhone and/or iTouch...
Assumptions.
* I'm assuming you run a version of Mac with OS X version 10.4 or greater.
* I'm also assuming you're internet-connected, while running iTunes.
Suggested link.
How to organise US account so that your iTunes music store works in South Africa http://forums.prophecy.co.za/f10/acessing-itunes-music-store-south-africa-17937.
As of posting, the iTunes music store does still not sell music in South Africa :(. So, if you want to select a tune or album to play using Apple's nifty Coverflow viewing option, this service is not going to look like it should {i.e. loads of blank squares, instead of album artwork}.
To fix this on a Mac*, you should download the free GimmeSomeTune software from http://gimmesometune.com. After installing it, check that the following preferences are active:
- Start GimmeSomeTune with iTunes
- Fetch cover artwork from the internet when the song has none
- Fetch lyrics from the internet when the song has none
Launch iTunes, press play, check the GimmeSomeTune icon shows network activity and GimmeSomeTune will start collecting album covers and lyrics for each song you play...
If GimmeSomeTune doesn't download album artwork, try these work-arounds:
1 Check the song's fields for Name, Artist, Album Artist and Album are all present and correct. The Album Artist's is often blank; filling it in often delivers positive results.
2 Check that no blank spaces are left at the ned of the texts in these fields.
3 Check that the album's name doesn't feature extraneous information (i.e. Felt Mountain Bonus CD2 (UK release) should be changed to simply Felt Mountain by deleting it [or cutting out Bonus CD2 (UK release) and pasting it into the comments box]. From what I've seen, iTunes still knows CD1 from CD2 after this information is removed, so this shouldn't interfere with playing an album's songs in the album's original order.
Once you've changed the song's information, replay it: GimmeSomeTune should be able to identify, then fetch, the album's artwork. If you've got many tunes, I suggest you let iTunes play your music library with shuffle selected. This is a relatively painless way of getting the most album covers in the quickest way!
If you still can't get the album artwork you want, do a search with Google images (listing the artist and album name). Choose the best resolution image, open its page, then drag-and-drop the album's arwork into iTune's blank Artwork box.
I hope following this post's advice helps you make the most of Coverflow; whether it's on your desktop, laptop, iPod, iPhone and/or iTouch...
Assumptions.
* I'm assuming you run a version of Mac with OS X version 10.4 or greater.
* I'm also assuming you're internet-connected, while running iTunes.
Suggested link.
How to organise US account so that your iTunes music store works in South Africa http://forums.prophecy.co.za/f10/acessing-itunes-music-store-south-africa-17937.
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