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Beatport, Itunes store and other places to buy music online

All Acting Regiment

15:38 / 05.08.08

So, Beatport. Very nicely designed website. I'm getting into dubstep, so can see a use for it, but was wondering if anyone had any experience negative or positive with the website.

Beyond this, a thread for anyone to talk about online music buying places - what do you use, what's good, what's not, etc?

Evil Scientist

16:07 / 05.08.08

I use iTunes generally. It's sometimes handy for getting hold of relatively mainstream tracks I can't get in the stores in town, like a Presets album or something. But I've got no complaints really, and as I am (a)Lazy and (b)Use an iPod, it's normally my first port of call.

Axolotl

15:15 / 06.08.08

In something that ties into the file-sharing thread I've been forever put off legitimate download sites by my experiences with the Tesco website. DRM crippled my use of the tracks I'd bought and I thought screw it - I'll look elsewhere. I considered using iTunes but I don't have an iPod and the disparities in Apple's UK pricing always annoyed me. I realise this is fairly irrational but hey.

Char Aina

16:19 / 06.08.08

Beatport is the industry standard among DJs, as far as I know. Most folks who like dance music swear by it as a source for legal downloads. Vinyl still gets bought, but there are fewer and fewer who haven't got a few tracks from there.

Personally I prefer to buy directly from labels as much as possible, occasionally using their links if they don't actually sell the stuff.
I think a well stocked record shop with knowledgable staff still can't be beat, though. Knowing folks who DJ every weekend and who work in those shops is the best way to hear about new shit save sitting on forums 24/7.

I have never bought form itunes. I haven't felt comfortable doing so yet. I don't feel they know their shit, and I don't like what they did with DRM or with prices. I don't have an ipod, and this may be a factor.

Mon Oncle Ignatius

15:32 / 07.08.08

eMusic is good, especially for less mainstream stuff. I get through a huge number of downloads there for way less than iTues, and it's DRM free mp3s only. quite a lot of the time I'm using it to replace vinyl I already own; but it's a very good way of filling an iPod without spending too much.

kidninjah

23:29 / 17.08.08

Beatport looks good and I'm oft tempted to buy from the embedded widgets they provide for myspace - tho' I'll probably wait for a specific track (Starkey's "Gutter Music") I'm after to become available.

Presently I like buying MP3z as they seem to be more environmentally friendly than hunks of plastic (and online shopping is convenient). I used to love buying vinyl and realised only recently that MP3z will have zero resale value compared to their physical counterparts.

I've bought from iTunes, but prefer to use bleep, boomkat and, like Life Critic above, the labels/artists themselves. iTunes DRM annoys me and for ages their MP3z were of very low bitrate compared to bleep/boomkat. I _think_ they still only sell 256kb/s files, as opposed to 320kb/s from the smaller stores. I also prefer to buy electornica, funk & dubstep which iTunes, with which iTunes is very poorly stocked.

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