Downloading Music ??

[RedDisco]

My daughter is getting a MP3 player at Christmas, can anyone advise please, where is a good, easy to operate place to download music from (for a 9 year)

Thanks.

[Bulli]

slsk or soulseek as its otherwise known. Good site you tend not to get porn and dodgy stuff coming up on searches. Some of the bittorrent sites are really bad for it.
Just make sure you set up the files as it suggests with any site otherwise people can browse all your personal stuff! plus its free...even better

[Bishops Finger]

Its killing music...make her copy old vinyl onto Boots c90 cassettes :D

[laser_jock99]

My daughter is getting a MP3 player at Christmas, can anyone advise please, where is a good, easy to operate place to download music from (for a 9 year)

Thanks.

Download the free Limewire file sharing utilty from here:

http://www.limewire.com/english/content/home.shtml

Best kept 'secret' on the Net.

[Bulli]

got that the music is poorly sorted and you always get porn! Great when you are our age but not for a 9 year old! slsk is sorted better you can you can put in artist ,track etc and then download the folder which generally gets you the album.
I do use limewire for dvd's / porn etc!

[thermidorthelobster]

Well, be a bit careful as I downloaded a pop video the other day off a filesharing network and got hardcore porn instead.  This is not so great if you're a 9 year old.  A friend of mine has stopped using most of the filesharing networks because he's been getting hit by viruses (I don't have that problem because I have a Mac, but if you have a PC it could be a pain in the ass.)

I'd recommend you get your daughter an iPod, and use iTunes software which is provided with it (or you can download it free from Apple).  This interfaces seamlessly with Apple's online music store.  You have to pay for this, per track, but it's only 79p per track and it keeps everything legal.

The benefits of doing this are it's simple and quick, it's foolproof, you're not going to get your computer mashed with viruses, trojans and spyware, it's porn-free, and she's not breaking the law.

[laser_jock99]

got that the music is poorly sorted and you always get porn

The strange thing about Limewire is that it has actually lead me to great music tracks (like 2 Bad Mice!) I had forgoton about or never even knew existed- almost like browsing a music store! Part of my problem is that I frequently have only a vague idea of the artist and/or the name of the tracks I'm after- so in my case strict sorting would be a distinct disadavantage!

Porn- restrict your search field to sound files!

[Budgie]

My daughter is getting a MP3 player at Christmas

Hope she doesn't read this thread then!!  :-$

[datalas]

Depending upon the MP3 player she is getting I would advise that she stick to teh purely legal sources of online music such as iTunes, Napster (now) and the like.

Specifically because if her age caution is deeply advised as the more questionable networks are now flooded with pornography and malware.  Add to this the simple fact that it is illigal and people are now being (successfully) prosecuted for copyright infringement (which incidently isn't piracy, nor is it theft, it's a civil matter, not a criminal one).

It is of course possibly to buy the CD's and record the mp3s from that, assuming of course that Sony don't decide to rootkit your computer for doing so.

[rollazuki]

Soulseek is my fave, depends on your viewpoint to stealing music. Personally, I steal, my bad.
Its safer to load existing CD's onto an mp3(and much easier), besides if your kid borrows cd's from friends etc, they can get a big music collection quite quickly.
Whichever way, get some good anti-virus software cos youll get lots if you download a lot.
Theres plenty of legal download sites about, but obviously, a 9 yr old doesnt have much by the way of credit cards, so again, take care with payments, its very adictive once you see your music collection grow sooooo quickly.
Also check out record company websites, and band websites. They often have limited downloads of the latest tracks for free.

[TimM]

I'd recommend you get your daughter an iPod, and use iTunes software which is provided with it (or you can download it free from Apple).  This interfaces seamlessly with Apple's online music store.  You have to pay for this, per track, but it's only 79p per track and it keeps everything legal.

The benefits of doing this are it's simple and quick, it's foolproof, you're not going to get your computer mashed with viruses, trojans and spyware, it's porn-free, and she's not breaking the law.

Depending upon the MP3 player she is getting I would advise that she stick to teh purely legal sources of online music such as iTunes, Napster (now) and the like....... Specifically because of her age caution is deeply advised ...........It is of course possibly to buy the CD's and record the mp3s from that

Good advice from both here, you or I may want to use the file sharing type programs, but at her age you really need to be keeping her away from them. If you use the iTunes or Napster options, just be aware of how YOUR credit card bill will be increasing.

If you convert your/her CD's into MP3's, then each track will be (for example) about 3Mb, depending on what MP3 player you are buying will depend on how many tracks you can have eg if you get a small 512MB player, then you will only get about 170 tracks on it, which she probably has on CD anyway.

In which case do you need to be obtainin ghtem over the internet at all?

Give us a clue, what are you intending to get her?

[ian_s]

i bought SWMBO a Creative Zen Micro 5gig mp3 player earlier this year
its fantastic
i have trouble using it cos i have ape hands, but her dainty little lady hands are fine with, so i'd expect a 9yo to be able to cope.
the creative software is easy to use, but doesnt have its own download thing.

iTunes is apparently good, and links directly with the iPods, which is nice. and its legal, and it SAFE which is the best thing for children

[PUX]

i always get my music from www.limewire.com good site very easy to use

[EvilEd]

For those of you doing the dodgy thing, look at "PeerGuardian" it's a psudo firewall that prevents corporate networks connecting to your machine. Also stops a few Malware sites connecting as well.

Would recommend the legal route though, 'specially for a 9yo.

Alternative is buy the CD's and convert them to MP3 / WMA format. I Use CDEX and that seems to work pretty well, got a CDDB interface to download artist / track information as well so you get your ID3 tags set.

EE :twisted:

[ian_s]

cdex rocks
its free, too
http://sourceforge.net/projects/cdexos

[RedDisco]

Thanks for the advice, to be honest I've no intention using any 'dodgy' sites.
I have no problem in paying for what I use, I would much rather do that than have her come up with anything unsuitable.

[TimM]

So what are you buying her then?

 :?:

[RedDisco]

I think I've probably been mis-understood here, I'm not buying a mega bucks machine, it's only a stocking filler to go with her main present. I was looking round Currys on Sunday and spotted MP3 players at £15 and picked one up, thought I couldn't go far wrong for that.

[TimM]

In that case, do you need to worry about downloading at all, if you look at one of my earlier posts you will see that the 'smaller' MP3 players will only take a couple of hundred tracks.

I think I roughly worked it out at 170 tracks, which is probably only 15-20 CD's...

She will probably be able to fill her new player without purchasing anything from the internet.

Usless you are giving her the chance to buy any 'new' stuff electronically (which is cheaper).

My nephew has a 'smaller' MP3 player, I think his is 512Mb, and he still prefers to buy everything on CD and then copies them to his MP3 player afterwards.

Just a thought  

[RedDisco]

Thanks Tim, That was my idea, buying new stuff electronically. As I said, I have no problems with paying for it, but been new to all this just wondered where the best/safest to get it from.

[EvilEd]

Nice to see how many unscrupulouse (Sp?) peeps there are here though :)

[Thrasher]

Hmmm...I have a *stupid* amount of CD's and yes, vinyl. I use the net to  get copies of my vinyl ... mainly because I'm too lazy to wait 25 minutes per side to transfer it. I have a right to have a backup copy (ISTR) as I bought the original...or have I lost the plot?

[TimM]

Possibly downloading the songs IS illegal, but as you have the vinyl nobody would complain as you are right you can have as many backup copies as you like as long as you are not selling, distributing, or playing them publicly (or whatever it is they say).

In the past I bought CD's but only had a tape player in my car - so I taped them - was I a criminal? no!

If that's all you are doing, you are one of the more honest amongst us, I tend to buy CD's and then copy them to my iPod (it holds 60Gb), but I can't vouch for ALL my collection, some has come from the internet and some has come from borrowed CD's.

How many of us can hold there hands up and say they have never taped a friends CD/record in the past....... <silence>

[Wanderer]

I have never taped a friends CD or record!

There you go.

Easy and true.

The question would be better asked who has not got anything that has been copied?

Microsoft products.
Music
Photos etc etc.

In this day and age I'd say very few.

[TimM]

In this day and age I'd say very few.

Even less if we add video taping anything from TV

 :lol:

[Wanderer]

Ah but that's legal.

[TimM]

AFAIK you can tape ANYTHING off TV if you only keep it for 'a while', ie you can tape something whilst you are out and watch it say the next night, but you are not allowed to tape a film and then keep it as part of your collection.

[Wanderer]

Well M'lud.

I'm sorry I forgot to erase the tape. Whilst I intend to plead not guilty to (Lord knows what) I'm pleased that you have the BBC here charged with aiding and abetting me as they supplied the Videoplus numbers.

:lol:

By the way M'lud. Can I really be charged with watching a repeat of a repeat that's been repeated on TV?

I can't be sure on that one Tim but I can't see how such a law would be worded and would hazard a bet that the law used is an old one that hasn't been revised since the invention of video recorders in the 70's.

[TimM]

We're loosing the plot a little here  

I think we are agreed that Thrasher has nothing to worry about though  :D

(But if you ever go to court Thrasher: don't quote me on that OR call me as a character witness)

[BrumLee]

Hmmm...I have a *stupid* amount of CD's and yes, vinyl. I use the net to  get copies of my vinyl ... mainly because I'm too lazy to wait 25 minutes per side to transfer it. I have a right to have a backup copy (ISTR) as I bought the original...or have I lost the plot?

Neil,

What's vinyl? Do you mean those things you used to call 78's with bands like Status Quo on  :lol: Please help us youngsters understand  

Illegal I know, but the car boots used to be full of folk selling Mp3 discs at something like five for £10, may even be DVD's full of music now. Safer than downloading, but still morally wrong