Easy Downloads

Easy downloads.

 

Where do you go for the best music? And once you get there how do you know it's legal?
by Nick Waters.

 

You're fed up with the songs on your PC, you don't want to buy an expensive CD for the sake of one hit single, and you don't know where to fi nd new tunes without risking a midnight visit from the 'Music Police' when it turns out your downloads were illegal. So where do you go?
The problem for iPod owners is that New Zealand doesn't even have an iTunes Music Store, so Kiwis can only have half as much fun with their iPods as they could practically anywhere else. When we do finally get one, Apple downloads will cost around 99 cents per song - cheaper than most other local services. For those who support Kiwi music, Amplifier has a fine service, with MP3 tracks costing around $1.69 each. The site has been under pressure to change over to a protected file format to stop pirating, but the Amplifier team believes MP3s give users more flexibility because they'll play on iPods, whereas the most commonly protected format won't.

 

Vodafone has started offering music downloads to 3G mobile phones, via its Vodafone live! MusicStore. Telecom New Zealand has one, too - currently only for a very exclusive range of mobiles and then there's Digirama and Coketunes.

 

Because of the restricted fi le format offered by Digirama and Coketones, you won't be able to play songs downloaded from them on an iPod - unless you transfer them to a CD fi rst and from there to MP3 format.

 

Digirama cut the cost of its downloads from $1.99 to $1.69 to compete with Coketunes when it launched. And a download package costs between $10 and $459.

 

The cool thing about Coketunes' service is its charity, the Coketunes Music Fund,which supports local musicians. You can pay per song, or, as with Digirama, buy packages ranging from $17.50 to $119.99 (the bigger the deal, the better the value).

 

Vodafone's live! MusicStore offers mobile phone users a choice of 300,000 songs, which can be downloaded directly to a 3G mobile. But once they're on your phone, you can't transfer them to another device. Each song costs $3.50, which means a whole album would set you back around $40.

 

These prices don't take into account the cost of a 3G phone plan. The songs in Telecom's mobile music store also cost $3.50 each to download.

 

But the highly compressed playback format means the quality isn't great. Plus, the music store is available only to users with compatible mobile phones.

 

Pandora isn't local, but calls itself "your own personal DJ". It selects and plays music it considers to be in a style similar to your favourites, so you'll stumble upon all kinds of songs you may never have heard before.

 

Just don't forget how you got there when Pandora sends you off in search of MP3s by the artists it recommends.

 

WHAT'S FILE-SHARING?
File-sharing means making fi les like .mp3s available for other users to download over the internet. Usually, fi le-sharing follows a peer-to-peer (P2P) model, where the fi les are stored on a range of personal computers in different locations, instead of just on one server. Lots of people like Limewire (www. limewire.com), which describes itself as "the fastest fi le-sharing program on the planet".

 

Sites such as Limewire and Kazaa (www.kazaa. com) don't provide music, but instead allow others to use their software - in the case of Kazaa, its Media Desktop - to share music they already have on their computers.

 

But buying a CD doesn't provide you with a licence to share it with other people, even if they offer you their music in return.

 

Kazaa argues it's doing nothing wrong because some music is in the 'public domain' and can be legally downloaded. However, music only goes into the public domain when the composer gives consent, or between 50 and 70 years after his or her death.

 

And when was the last time you downloaded a 76-year-old number one single? So read our 'stay legal!' section, because whichever filesharing service you use, the artists whose songs you download may not approve of them being given away.

 

You might think that isn't your problem, but how would you feel if something you'd paid to create was taken from you, then widely distributed and you were offered nothing in return?

 

GADGETS FOR MUSIC LOVERS

 

You can't help thinking some parents are taking their anger out on their offspring just because .mp3 players weren't around when they were kids.

 

In Europe, a German manufacturer called Maxfi eld has launched an .mp3 player aimed at children aged six to 12, with a volume 'stop' at 60 decibels to protect your hearing. The "Max-Joy" (very funny) has external stereo headphones that sit outside your ear and comes with ruggedised, rubber edging to help it withstand rougher treatment than your average .mp3 player is built to deal which - and which it might need, once you realise it won't play your Blindspott tracks as loud as you expect.

 

Apple recently launched a new version of its iTunes software that allows parents to set a volume cap on your iPod and lock it with a combination code - but Mum and Dad are never going to fi gure out those 'parental controls' without your help. Mind you, taking care of your hearing now means you could still be listening to death metal when all your mates have left in their ears is a weird ringing sound.

 

MOBILE RINGTONES

 

If you'd rather have something more musical on your mobile than the annoying trend for barking dogs, farm animals, police sirens and rude noises, there's an almost infi nite array of ringtones available. The choice is limited only by your mobile provider and your musical taste.

 

Vodafone subscribers can get cool tones from its website (www.vodafone.co.nz). Just click on 'Ringtones and tattoos' on the lefthand menu. It's even possible to compose your own.

 

You can use www.telecom.co.nz to preview and buy ringtones for Telecom mobiles. It costs $1.95 each time you download a monophonic and $3.50 for a polyphonic manuringtone. "Tru-tones" cost $4.95 to download.

 

Or you can give your callers a treat the next time they ring you, with Telecom's Caller Tunes service, which allows you to play them a tune from a selection of hundreds of different songs or sounds (this service, perhaps fortunately, is exclusive to 027 mobiles).

 

Some dedicated ringtone websites are expensive, and you risk having spyware or viruses installed on your computer. There are a few good local sites, however, such as www. ringtones.com.au, now called www.193193.

 

net.au. It charges A$4 per ringtone and offers categories such as MTV Australia Video Music Award Winners and national anthems (although quite why you'd want one of those is anybody's guess).

 

And in case you wondered whether the composer is paid for entertaining you with their chart-topping tune every time your mates call, yes they do: ringtone providers apply for clearance from APRA, the Australasian Performing Rights Association. They're then charged 10% of the cost of each download, a minimum fee of 15 cents.

 

1-2-3, STAY LEGAL!

 

However you listen to it, music isn't free. The songs you hear on CDs, the radio, or as downloaded MP3s cost money to record and release.

 

If you fi nd 'free music' by famous artists, downloading it to your computer is probably illegal. Before downloading from any online music store ask the following:

 

1. Is the store part of a recognised brand?

 

2. Does the website say it deals with record labels and collection societies?

 

3. Does it charge a fee for downloads of big acts?

 

If the answer to all three of the above is 'No', proceed with caution. Websites like Media Club (http://mclub.te.net.ua/), hosted in the Ukraine, charge users US$3 per 100 megabytes - that's a lot of songs in MP3 quality.

 

It has an impressive catalogue but may not be all it seems. It claims to have a deal with ROMS (the Russian Organisation For Multimedia and Digital Systems). ROMS supposedly then passes on money to local and overseas copyright owners.

 

However, it's virtually impossible to verify whether all the income due to overseas agents such as APRA (the Australasian Performing Rights Association), which distributes royalties to Kiwi composers and artists, is actually distributed. EMusic (www.emusic.com) offers a free trial consisting of 50 downloads in two weeks before you have to start paying.

 

It claims to have up to 900,000 tracks but, in order to see what's on offer, you need to register and provide credit card details. If you don't cancel after two weeks, your card is debited and you become an eMusic member.

 

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