Music Downloading Question

[Oliver Clozoff]

Having a bunch of extra money left over from my residency interview trips, I recently decided to treat myself to an early graduation present in the form of a fancy-schmancy new computer (don't tell the government - student loans are supposed to be for academic purposes only, but with cash left over, what was I supposed to do, give it back?).

My old computer and internet access weren't fast enough to make downloading MP3's worthwhile, but now I'm looking to get into it. There are a bunch of different music-sharing programs out there but my problem is that I have no idea which are good. My questions for you MP3 afficianados and internet experts are:

1. Which program(s) is/are most reliable and easiest to use?
2. Which offer(s) the widest selection of music?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Laci]

My favorite site is Audiogalaxy. As far as being reliable it isn't the best place to download because they don't really have as big a selection as you'd like. Now Morpheus aka Kazaa is pretty great. Of course its also good for downloading free software, previous box office releases, pictures, and audio, but you didn't hear that from me.

 

[modest mouse]

Hey Ollie,

My approach right now is this:

I use two programs, Audio Galaxy and Morpheus. Depending on what I am looking for, i fire up either program.

AG tends to give me extremely quick downloads and I use it when looking for readily available songs or artists. Its also conducive to browsing as they have some genre sections and breif write ups about artists, as well as suggestions. Ideal for some casual new music exploration.

You'll have to use the sattellite in conjunction with a browser to initiate downloads, then you can let the sattelite run in the background.


For more obscure music, and when I'm looking for something specific...say Sonny Sharrock in Zimbabwe that doesnt exist on CD.... I use Morpheus. It tends to be hit or miss on rare songs as you are only looking at who is on at a given moment. I search over and over again for certain artists.

I've found for readily available music Morpheus is slower, per song, than AG. THat might be my connection and location or an overall performance issue...I'm not sure.

Morpheus works more as a stand alone and has superior search options. You can narrow your search several ways and thus gat at what you want. Some don't care for the interface but I like it just fine.

Morpheus also offers software, movies, images, etc...damn near anything digital. Be prepared to fill a harddrive quickly.

PM me if you have any questions later(or now). Have fun and remember you are only sampling the music to buy later.

Downloads:

www.audiogalaxy.com

www.musiccity.com

 

[on_the_verge]

Having a bunch of extra money left over from my residency interview trips, I recently decided to treat myself to an early graduation present in the form of a fancy-schmancy new computer (don't tell the government - student loans are supposed to be for academic purposes only, but with cash left over, what was I supposed to do, give it back?).

My old computer and internet access weren't fast enough to make downloading MP3's worthwhile, but now I'm looking to get into it. There are a bunch of different music-sharing programs out there but my problem is that I have no idea which are good. My questions for you MP3 afficianados and internet experts are:

1. Which program(s) is/are most reliable and easiest to use?
2. Which offer(s) the widest selection of music?

Thanks in advance.

Thanks to the birth and death of Napster as many loved and knew it there are ways of getting MP3 files that you want to fill your hard drive to your hearts content, not to mention your ears. The shut down of napster as most knew it has spawned many new protocols between fans of music and pirates alike.

The question is what exactly are you looking for in music or obtaining them? If you want MP3's and don't wan tto pay, you can download a program called "limewire." It's got servers up the yazoo and it's very easy to find MP3's—plus it's easy to use. You could download whole albums and you are part of a community that can also access your hard drive for music files as well you obtaining them. If you are concerned about security I don't believe I have heard a case where your hard drive will be subject to hacking or sniffing beyond your music files.

NOw with all that other extra money you could invest in a portable MP3 player to toat all your fav Mp3 files around with you too!


from http://www.cnet.com

Description
LimeWire is a software tool that enables peer-to-peer file sharing on the Gnutella Network. This tool is similar to the popular Napster service in that it enables you to share, search, and download MP3 music files. However, LimeWire takes information sharing a step further by enabling the user to share and search for all types of computer files, including movies, pictures, games, word-processing documents, recipes, and more. LimeWire also enables you to join a group of people with similar interests in order to increase the probability that you will find what you are looking for.

Previous versions introduced options such as the ability to chat with other LimeWire users while you are transferring files, a major increase in performance, improved download performance, faster auto-connect at start-up, and an improved options screen.

Version 2.1 features better search results, slower results are no longer dropped, and more.

 

[BlazeofLife]

Kazaa is the best site, as far as I'm concerned. Morpheus is the same, more or less. They both have the same look, same status shifts, etc. The only difference is ownership. Kazaa is directly owned from europe, while Morpheus leases its software from kazaa for use within North America. Kazaa tends to have more selection available, is faster, and tends to be less of a system hog. Its pretty reliable, and lets you download music, video, software, and images.
Another good program is called Limewire, it doesn't have as much selection, but it allows you to run multiple searches at once and organize your downloads based on the speed of the person you're downloading from. (e.g. T3, T1, Cable, DSL, 56k, etc.)

Here they are:
Kazaa:
http://download.cnet.com/downloads/0-1896420-100-7142396.html?tag=st.dl.10001-103-1.lst-7-1.7142396

Morpheus:
http://download.cnet.com/downloads/0-1896420-100-6525083.html?tag=st.dl.10001-103-1.lst-7-1.6525083

AudioGalaxy:
http://download.cnet.com/downloads/0-1896420-100-7647532.html?tag=st.dl.10001-103-1.lst-7-1.7647532

Limewire:
http://download.cnet.com/downloads/0-1896420-100-8490793.html?tag=st.dl.10001-103-1.lst-7-1.8490793

Enjoy!

Blaze

 

[freakygirl]

I'm telling! I'm telling! I'm telling! I'm telling! I'm telling!


I'm telling the government that you are using your student loans for a new computer..

and I'm telling someone else (don't know who yet.. but I'll figure it out soon enough) that you are using said computer (obtained using illegal monies) to download illegal music..






*oh yeah.. I use morpheous.. haven't tried any others. So basicly I have no opinion

 

[on_the_verge]

I'm telling! I'm telling! I'm telling! I'm telling! I'm telling!


I'm telling the government that you are using your student loans for a new computer..

and I'm telling someone else (don't know who yet.. but I'll figure it out soon enough) that you are using said computer (obtained using illegal monies) to download illegal music..






*oh yeah.. I use morpheous.. haven't tried any others. So basicly I have no opinion

<snip>

Just downloaded freaky with my publicly funded computer…

 

[lavender]

 

[freakygirl]

<snip>

Just downloaded freaky with my publicly funded computer…

You access Lit from the library?

 

[freakygirl]

Ollie -

I just recently got DSL and have become a downloading whore! I use Audiogalaxy and love it. If you have any particular questions, PM me.

I'm soooooooo jealous..

I have to buy a new modem to get DSL.. my built in DSL modem that came with my computer is too good for our local servers DSL service.

 

[on_the_verge]

You access Lit from the library?

No, I actually access Lit from CompUSA. No wonder people gawk at me when I computer shop.

 

[freakygirl]

No, I actually access Lit from CompUSA. No wonder people gawk at me when I computer shop.

lmao.. I was worse than you. I hung out at Sears.. using their webtv to chat.

The bastards wouldn't let me move a chair from the furniture department.. or use a big screen tv.

 

[Guru]

 

[BlazeofLife]

You can access morpheus and kazaa from behind a firewall, you just have to alter the program settings from within the tools pull down menu to do it. There's options there to specify your firewall, I have one too, and kazaa works just fine for me.

Blaze

 

[Cibo]

Well as others said...Morpheus...nuff said.

You can get just about ANYTHING off morpheus.

 

[April]

Audiogalaxy and WinMX

www.winmx.com

 

[Draco]

I use

Morpheus as well.
Wouldn't touch Audiogalaxy with a barge pole, it contains spy ware that reports all your surfing habits back to a central server. Ever wondered why you get so much junk mail after installing A-G? Its tracking your internet useage and sending you applicable offers. Like "Win a free cell phone etc"
Someone recently run a big thread on this. I'm not sure , I think it was Phoneyx, or Bob Peale. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[BlazeofLife]

Morpheus is good, but kazaa is still better. It operates exactly the same, has the same interface to use, but it has a larger database, connects faster, and takes up fewer system resources. I uninstalled Morpheus when I got Kazaa. Limewire's pretty good too, just don't plan on finding anything rare with it.

Blaze

 

[April]

Re: I use

Morpheus as well.
Wouldn't touch Audiogalaxy with a barge pole, it contains spy ware that reports all your surfing habits back to a central server. Ever wondered why you get so much junk mail after installing A-G? Its tracking your internet useage and sending you applicable offers. Like "Win a free cell phone etc"
Someone recently run a big thread on this. I'm not sure , I think it was Phoneyx, or Bob Peale. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Not necessarily true. Hubby installed it, and it's his email it uses. He never gets junk email. The bastard.

 

[Todd-'o'-Vision]

I use Audio Galaxy and can find aything and everything I am looking for

I had never had any problems with it.

Then Miles and Draco got beating the shit out of it with this spyware garabage triex to make me all paranoid and stuff.

Miles suggested AdAware at cnet.com to remove the spy ware.

I watched everyomne get this spyware and report hundreds and hundreds of spyware, i got it and had none, i even updated my adaware a few times even after STG got all paranoid of lit having spyware.

Its a crock, no extra emails here either

 

[lavender]

 

[Massive Grooves]

I tried Audiogalaxy, didn't like it. I use Morpheus, is good, slow to start, but fairly fast downloads after that. The problem with any of them is that it all depends who is online when you are. I can't find many songs that I want, and that is because either the users aren't sharing them or don't have them. Often times, a user will display a list of songs, but then sets their settings to share none of them, so I can't get it anyway.

For much of what I want, I've found it easier just to hang out at the used CD store