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Yes, it is Yahoo!'s fault.

Warp Records (http://www.bleep.com/ sell music that works just fine on the iPod, and they haven't licensed Apple's DRM.

I'll back down if you can name one or two.

Isn't 99 cents too much to pay for music that appeals to just a few people?

Actually I pay 0.99 GBP (or ~$1.72) for a lot of music online. Why? Because I get it off of Warp Records' Bleep.com website where I can find extremely rare tracks and the money is mostly going right to the artist. And while most of Bleep's big stuff (Boards of Canada, AFX) can be found in many places, none of these artists are cracking out gold records. The fact you can find out of print Detroit electro vinyl (say Dataphysix stuff) is a real boon.

Why would I pay this? Because I've paid $50 bucks for an album that I can now find on there for $15. Sure, for connoisseurs half the fun is the hunt for new albums but in the end you just want to have it sooner so you can listen to it more. So $1.72 per track is a great deal.

What I can't understand is have some sort of adaptive cost. The cost of a single track could fluctuate every day and they could track to see what affect it has on sales. Sales drop: reduce price. Sales rise: increase it. As with simulated annealing have the delta decrease with time. Why does there need to be a static price? A six cent song that sells a million copies is just as good as a sixty cent song that sells 100k.

Warp records of aphex twin, squarepusher etc. fame have the right idea.. they sell DRM free high quality MP3s at cheap prices on their bleep service, I wish the big record companies would just follow their example. If the big record companies can't give the public what they want, sooner or later they will cease to exist.

http://www.bleep.com/ It's a music service by warprecords.com. Plain mp3 files, ripped with LAME and no DRM. Their music store was nominated for a webby in 2004. I've purchased an album from them and was very happy with the audio quality. They have quite a backlog of out of print music available for purchase. I don't remember if they come with covers or if I put a cover on them.

Also check out bleep.com.

http://www.bleep.com/ Bleep is egregiously absent from this list. Not only is it DRM-free, but it also has some of the most adventurous and interesting music being made today.

Some rap has a melody. In any case, since when does music need a melody to be music? Your statement discounts the music of several cultures (ever heard tahitian music?)

For one, you can buy legal downloads from Bleep, which Warp Records (Aphex Twin, Autechre, Non Prophets, Prefuse 73) started, and apparently also features artists on other labels, such as Ninja Tune, Domino, etc. Warp started out putting out electronic music, mostly IDM-ish stuff, but lately they've been putting out good music from across the board.

I got my Vinyl here and my mp3's to play on the vinyl here.

Try Warp Records' Bleep (http://www.bleep.com/) . They have a wide range of independent labels, mostly on the electronica/experimental side (Bjork, Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada, Four Tet), although you will find some mainstream artists such as Franz Ferdinand (on the Domino label).

Everything is encoded using lame --preset standard, and some is available as FLAC (for a higher price).

Like bleep.com or the !K7 label?

Bleep?

http://bleep.com

Fact is, one CAN buy music legit from an online store other than iTunes and put it right on an iPod. I just bought the new Autechre album from http://bleep.com/Bleep, which sells Warp Records artists' music with no DRM.

From their FAQ: We believe that most people like to be treated as customers and not potential criminals - DRM is easily circumvented and just puts obstacles in the way of enjoying music.

Not only is Rosen's "iPod-iTunes" argument misleading, it's factually incorrect.

Yeah, it is great looking and I really love the baby blue leather case but when, oh when, will Steve Jobs let me buy music from somewhere other than the Apple iTunes store and put it on my iPod?

Oh wait, she wants the Top-40 garbage... Whatever.

Yeah, it is great looking and I really love the baby blue leather case but when, oh when, will Steve Jobs let me buy music from somewhere other than the Apple iTunes store and put it on my iPod?

Oh wait, she wants the Top-40 garbage... Whatever.

Wow, that's news to me. Who knew?

My bleep downloads seem to play fine on my iPod.

Should I file a bug?

So what, does Warp Records just not exist? And what about all those people all over the internet distributing mp3s of their own personally recorded music legally? Do they just not exist?

Oh, wait, I forgot-- those people aren't RIAA members. So I guess to Hillary Rosen, they don't exist.

Still, it seems awfully odd that "can play anything but WMA and FLAC" means "can only play personally ripped music and iTMS purchasers".

They have no DRM controls and have always had top quality mp3s. They are now starting to implement FLAC as well. If you like the type of music they provide, indie electronica / rock / hip hop etc, then I thoroughly recommend them.

Stop whining. There are a large number of music services, especially those related to independent label, that will sell you DRM-less mp3s (e.g bleep.com), and these will, of course, run just fine on your iPod. You could also fill your iPod by *gasp*, ripping your CD collection to iTunes in any number of formats. But you have a WMA file and felt the need to cry. What about transcoding, or purchasing a music player (yes there are others) that PlaysForSure(TM)?

If I'm renting, then DRM is fine as it ensures that I hold to the rental agreement - however, the price for renting must be significantly lower than that of buying.

If I'm buying, then no DRM (some record companies do this, for example Warp Records). Since I purchased the music, I should be able to do what I want with it under fair use rights.

The industry likes copy protection because they are afraid.

Opponents of DRM do not like the way it leverages control to record labels, how it makes portability more awkward, and generally removes the enjoyment of the media that they wanted to listen to in the first place.

DRM is not the only way.

Warp Records use plain MP3 files in their online music store and prefer to rely on the fact that if their customers like the music, they will buy it.

What are the new movements going on in the electronic music world that the mainstream has yet to become aware of?

Forget the "Hi NRG European Techno" and the crud they play in movies. The repetative beats got old real quick.

For electronic music that is different, here are a couple places to check out. These may not be to your taste, but they definately different then your "unS unS unS unS unS unS unS unS WooooooooOOOOOT WoooooooooOOOOOT! 'Smack my Bitch Up!' unS unS unS unS unS unS unS unS":

Warp Records has released their entire catalog online. I recommend Plaid, Boards of Canada, Squarepusher

Here a couple nice stations playing a range of electronic music:

http://www.live365.com/stations/after_party
http://www.live365.com/stations/mrs_emma_peel
http://somafm.com/listen/

Oh, how I miss MusicForHackers!

Warp records already embraces no DRM. Their online store www.bleep.com provides MP3s at 192kps with (admittedly small) cover art. A full CD is $10.

Warp is not a huge label, nor is their music to everyones tastes, but it is a good start.

Personally I would like to see the cost be a little lower, considering that there is no physical distribution costs, but it is low enough that I would pay for a CD's worth of music, rather than get it from other sources.

Oh really? What legal online music store works with the iPod other than iTMS?

Sounds cool, reminds me of Warp Records' Bleep site. Of course, that's only for music under their label (lots of really good electronica). What amazed me is Warp Records knows how to properly encode audio, they actually use lame w/VBR and some tweaks to make excellent MP3s (I have bought a few albums there).

Get thee to bleep.com. LAME-encoded MP3s, no DRM nonsense. Brilliant.

I already use a near-perfect music store: bleep.com, Warp Records' online marketplace. Every song has a full preview (with occasional fade-out), the pricing is reasonable (99p / track wth hefty full album discounts), and the files are great quality and DRM-free. In terms of what they supply, that's everything I'm after. the downside is their annoying JavaScript-heavy interface, with scores of ridiculous custom scroll arrows and the like. but if you like Warp music and the like, you can't - surely - go wrong with Bleep. Unless you don't allow JavaScript or rely on a text browser...

Ideally I'd like:

• ca. $5/album
• if you throw in all the album art in printable-quality pdf format or something, jack the price to maybe $6 an album.
• buying track-per-track doesn't really interest me much generally, price that however you want so long as it's no more than $1/track on the rare occasion I *do* want just one song.
• No DRM, of course. mp3 or ogg is fine, not terribly particular
• good tagging of the files I get
• No subscriptions
• Legal, of course. I like it when musicians get money.

Emusic was absolutely heavenly before they changed their pricing scheme. They're still pretty good I guess, but at ca. 23c/song (higher once you've gone beyond your subscribed monthly "limit") it's still a bit steep for trying bands you've never heard before, and seeing as though Emusic does mostly indie stuff that you've probably never heard of before, that's kind of a drawback. (Mind you, I found some really really great bands on there when they were doing unlimited subscriptions, but I probably wouldn't have heard most of them on their new subscription service.)

Bleep is great. I don't mind the $10/album thing quite so much because I'd otherwise be stuck importing a lot of those albums which drives up the average price for the hardcopy album. Plus they've got stuff otherwise only available on vinyl, etc.

They Might Be Giants' online store is great, mostly for their live shows available there, though the price ($10/album) is a bit steep for anyone who's not already a fan, and obviously the other drawback is that only TMBG is available there.

For electronica fans, Bleep sells good quality MP3's from Warp, Ninja Tune, and a bunch of related labels. They're generally just over a buck a piece, and their preview tool is excellent. Many of the tracks are not available on CD, so this is the only way of getting a digital copy without going through the incredibly painfull process of ripping vinyl.

This is the first online music store that I will seriously consider. (and actually the first that I _can_ consider since I'm a linux user.

That's not entirely true. You can buy from Bleep.com, and it's basically the same thing. Non-DRM 192kps MP3s. You just have to like their selection (mostly electronic music on Warp Records). It's been up for a while now, and you pay per song (or album), not a monthly fee (which I prefer).

Don't forget Wap Records!

http://www.bleep.com/

Lots on content from the UK's premier indie labels, plus all of Bjorks back catalogue, all available in unencumbered high quality LAME MP3's

• bleep.com (Warp Records)
• They Might be Giants (and Back Office Music, the place which created their store)
• Even though their subscription levels kind of suck now, emusic.com.

Warp Records, a very popular indepedent electronic music label, offers much of its catalog online as completely DRM-free mp3s. Completely legal... its their copyrighted material.

I know it's a bit of a technicality, but some of the data on Magnetbox's RIAA list is a bit screwed. Personally, I'm big into my electronica and funk, and was rather disappointed to see one of my favourite acts (the Aphex Twin) listed as an RIAA confederate.

Of course, those of you familiar with him will know he is signed on Warp Records, one of the world premier electro labels based in the UK. Warp is completely independent, BUT alot of the US releases are published by the big bad RIAA companies. Records bought from Warpmart http://www.warprecords.com/?section=mart will be totally RIAA-free (worldwide shipping) AND you're supporting the artist, and you can also download DRM-free MP3's from Warp's excellent Bleep http://www.bleep.com/ music store (many of the MP3's created by the artists themselves, and they are also selling an awful lot of other UK indie label music thorugh it as well, such as Ninja Tune, another of my fave labels), which also does worldwide "shipping". I downloaded over 500MB of MP3's from them the other day. And no, I'm not an employee of Warp, I just think they have a brilliant and underexposed system going on.

Moral of ths story: Magnetbox's db is too US centric. *Always* check with the band and label first to see if they have their own shop. If it's an indie label or the band are just flogging their own stuff, you're sorted. The label or the artist gets all the cash, and the middleman gets sweet FA.

• Playlists: How many of you listen to music in the background? Almost all of you? Me, too. And when I am streaming one of Magnatune's internet radio stations and hear something I like, I have to stop everything I am doing and quickly call up iTunes before the song changes. Otherwise, there is no way to find out the name of that song. Unlike other internet radio stations, Magnatune doesn't offer a dynamically updated playlist on their website. So unless you got lucky, you're out of luck. The song has passed into the ether.
• Searchable Database: Let's say you were too busy writing that report/paper/novel/webpage/program to bother switching tasks to see the title of a song you just heard and write it down to investigate later. I once heard some beautiful chamber music with recorders that I thought would be nice to buy. A trip to Magnatune's website reveals there is no way to search for "chamber music recorders". Sure, the entire catalog of chamber music is available for me to listen to for free, but if I want to purchase one in particular I have to listen to all of them one at a time until I find the one I heard. Effective searching? Not really. I don't have time for that.
• Customer Support: Giving up on searching for that song and hoping to get help from Magnatune? They don't respond to email. I've sent multiple emails to Punky, the Emailclown, and not a single one of them has been responded to. If that guy wasn't having so much fun dying his hair and posing for the webcam maybe he'd be able to answer a few emails once in a while. Any email stating "I am looking for a song played at x:xxpm write before (name of song I did catch). I have money and and prepared to give it to you." should elicit some sort of response - even a canned one. But I received nothing, nor did I receive a response on a follow-up I sent later. Good-bye Magnatunes; Hello iTMS

I have hundreds of CDs, cassettes, and LPs (ooh, dating myself there). I put my money where my mouth is. I buy, buy, buy. But not with Magnatunes. If they won't make it easy for me to find what I want, and won't help me find it when I can't, then I won't spend any money there.

I see Magnatune praised a lot here. I wonder if any of you have honestly bought music with them, or are just using them as a proof of concept in the noble fight against the RIAA.

• Bleep - Warp Records etc. (mp3)
• Audio Lunchbox - lots of independent music (mp3/ogg)

PS Having said that, I did actually buy the US/UK release of To The 5 Boroughs (which is not affected by the EMI 'protection' system). Don't blame groups for DRM and disc damage; blame the RIAA, their labels, and their stupid contracts.

I would suggest bleep.com. It meets all you're requirements (assuming # 4 includes what is available).

I guess this is like the approach taken by bleep (Warp Records DRM-free music downloads)... seems like a good approach in general, because instead of limiting your users to those using Windows Media (or whatever 'compliant' player) suddenly every computer user becomes a potential customer.

bleep.com, magnatune.com, enough said

Warp make all new releases available electronically via their online store Bleep.com. It's based in the UK but sells worldwide. They are also ripping their back catalogue as quickly as they can.

You might also try Epitonic. Hasn't been updated for a while but they have lots o'stuff, catgeorised, reviewed legal and free to download.

Don't forget Warp Records either; excellent label, excellent music, supplies VBR MP3s. And it definitely works in Europe.

If you're looking for anything on warp records, check out bleep.com...
They don't have any international restrictions...
Of course, don't go there expecting anything too mainstream. But, it's still an option for non-American music downloaders...

Warp Records entire catalog, including rare and out-of-print, and vinyl-only stuff available at Bleep.com.

Good quality VBR, and whole-song preview too.

y

I can't use it here in the UK (*). Napster is ok, but I still find the depth of tunes is not really to my tastes, plus I own and iPod, so WMA files really don't float my boat when it comes to music on the move.

Add to that the DRM issues and to be honest, I don't really want that much hassle when I decide to upgrade/reinstall my PC, so in the long term, both iTunes and Napster won't do it for me I'm afraid. Call me a stick in the mud, but I'm not supporting anything that deprives me of my basic consumer rights.

So, I tend to support smaller non-DRM'd operations like Bleep, which is worth checking out if you like your coffee table electronic music...

(*) I've always wondered why global record corporations have so much problems sorting out global rights, which is apparently why iTunes is not happening outside the US.

Danger Mouse released the best hip-hop album of 2003, 'Ghetto pop-life', together with Jemini the gifted. If you're at all interested in hip-hop, get this album!

It was released on Lex records in the UK. The climate for intelligent hip-hop in the US is currently non-existant, but the UK is still going strong. Since Lex is a sublabel (almost) of Warp records, you can download the 'Ghetto pop life' from the Bleep site in high quality mp3.

"Haha sound" by Broadcast. And if you wander over to the newly-opened Bleep.com, you can help yourself to lots of lovely DRM-free MP3s.

Here's the album.