Post by TheBandicoot on Feb 18, 2021 20:12:56 GMT
Hi everyone, I thought it would be interesting to see how and where people get their music from. Whether it be from digital download sites, ripped from physical copies and who you'd endorse (or advise against) to get music from?
If you could leave a small review next to each supplier that would be fantastic! It doesn't matter if others have already mentioned sites or stores before, as the more people that are using them means their clearly a favourable option.
So to get things started I've used: QoBuz, HDTracks, 7Digital, AcousticSounds and Bandcamp. Other than that I have several ripped from CD in FLAC only. I use dBpoweramp for all of my ripping and converting needs, dBpoweramp's PerfectTUNES for tagging and Image Converter on MacOS as it's a clean and simple program. Back when I was on Windows I used dBpoweramp for conversions and MP3tag for everything else.
1. QoBuz - I easily use them for 90% of my purchases. They've got good prices and more importantly, you can re-download your purchases in almost any format as many times as you want. You can even choose to download a 24bit purchase in 16bit if you'd prefer, for whatever reason. I use their iOS app too, but don't have a subscription with them. Being able to download all of your purchases to your phone using their app is a nice touch, I just wished iPhone's would let you export the downloads to the native Music app so everything is in one place. I highly recommend them.
2. Bandcamp - It could just be my genre preference, but Bandcamp always seems to have a lot of B-Sides and releases that were exclusive in foreign countries. Prices are excellent, but their catalogue is almost exclusively 16bit or lower, for whatever reason you'd even download MP3 files for. My biggest problem with Bandcamp is more of an industry-led problem of "one time only" download limits, they're stupid. If I've paid for it, I should be able to re-download it. There's no reason for downloads to be a "one-time" deal aside from money pumping.
3. HDTracks - A great alternative for 24bit files, I've even bought a few DSD's from them. Would be higher on my recommendation list if it wasn't for the higher costs, abnoxious download app it always wants you to use and I've had several tracks with metadata missing; meaning I've had to tag album artwork or reorganise the album. NOt a huge issue, but it's nowhere near as seamless as QoBuz.
4. AcousticSounds - Only used them for 3 albums recently because they weren't available anywhere else. The site is incredibly dated (it's literally straight out of the mid 2000's), US currency only and sells Physical and Digital media. It can be confusing at times whether an album is available for download or not. The search function was somewhat useless, usually bringing chaotic results whenever I used it. I remember it mixing the Vinyl and Digital formats together, but it wasn't ordered. I think it pulls the "one-time-only" download crap too, so it gets a thumbs down from me. I'll only use it to get an album I can't get anywhere else.
5. 7Digital - I hate them with a passion. I used them exclusively before switching to QoBuz. Has a fairly broad range of genres available in lossless up to 24bit in FLAC only. You can re-download your purchases assuming they don't remove the files from their servers with NO warning. I've lost well over half of my purchases as they're "no longer available". To make matters worse they genuinely don't seem to care your loss because it's "in their T&C's".
Personally I can't stand anywhere single-download limit. It's stupid and offers no security to the buyer if their player crashes, breaks or the memory card dies. I've bought a product, not a service where I get temporary access that's end date is defined by the person taking my money.
I highly recommend QoBuz because you can actually rely on them as a backup solution if you happen to lose your files, give you unlimited downloads on your purchases and don't charge ridiculous prices. Their app is a nice touch and offers a much more convenient way of getting your purchases onto your phone, rather than having to transfer them with a laptop. This is especially useful for those stuck with iTunes on Windows. The fact I can choose what format I want from a drop down box before I download is a bonus. At the time of writing this I genuinely can't think of a reason why not to buy from them, unless what you're after isn't available through them - which is exactly their fault anyway, the record labels are the ones in charge of where the music is available. They've even promised to never remove previous purchases too but I had to email them to check as they don't seem to advertise that anywhere.
AVOID 7Digital LIKE THE PLAGUE. I don't care what their "small print" covers them against. I wouldn't have given them a penny if I had known that they would just cut off my access whenever they wanted. I don't even care if it was due to licensing restrictions, be reasonable and give people a heads up. There's no way they don't know that info in advance. I'd happily accept 48 hours notice by email, at least the ball is in my court then. 7Digital are the sole reason why I have everything backed up in several places now. I dread to think how much money I've lost because of their sh*tty business tactic; not only have I lost access to dozens of purchases, but I've had to waste time and money re-purchasing several albums and re-downloading them. I was unfortunate enough that both the MicroSD card and USB stick I had at the time literally died on the same day.
Hopefully others can take my experience of 7Digital as a harsh lesson not to support them any further. I don't like giving a company bad press online because they aren't in a position to defend themselves, but 7Digital have had plenty of opportunities to improve their delivery of their service. They know they're crapping on people and couldn't care less if they tried. They've earned the bad press here. Since then they've also closed down different regional stores and completely abolished people's login's
On a side note, does anyone know of a site that allows you to download region-exclusive releases? There are a lot of bonus tracks by artists I like that are limited to the Japanese market. Any thoughts?
Post your thoughts & reviews below!!
If you could leave a small review next to each supplier that would be fantastic! It doesn't matter if others have already mentioned sites or stores before, as the more people that are using them means their clearly a favourable option.
So to get things started I've used: QoBuz, HDTracks, 7Digital, AcousticSounds and Bandcamp. Other than that I have several ripped from CD in FLAC only. I use dBpoweramp for all of my ripping and converting needs, dBpoweramp's PerfectTUNES for tagging and Image Converter on MacOS as it's a clean and simple program. Back when I was on Windows I used dBpoweramp for conversions and MP3tag for everything else.
1. QoBuz - I easily use them for 90% of my purchases. They've got good prices and more importantly, you can re-download your purchases in almost any format as many times as you want. You can even choose to download a 24bit purchase in 16bit if you'd prefer, for whatever reason. I use their iOS app too, but don't have a subscription with them. Being able to download all of your purchases to your phone using their app is a nice touch, I just wished iPhone's would let you export the downloads to the native Music app so everything is in one place. I highly recommend them.
2. Bandcamp - It could just be my genre preference, but Bandcamp always seems to have a lot of B-Sides and releases that were exclusive in foreign countries. Prices are excellent, but their catalogue is almost exclusively 16bit or lower, for whatever reason you'd even download MP3 files for. My biggest problem with Bandcamp is more of an industry-led problem of "one time only" download limits, they're stupid. If I've paid for it, I should be able to re-download it. There's no reason for downloads to be a "one-time" deal aside from money pumping.
3. HDTracks - A great alternative for 24bit files, I've even bought a few DSD's from them. Would be higher on my recommendation list if it wasn't for the higher costs, abnoxious download app it always wants you to use and I've had several tracks with metadata missing; meaning I've had to tag album artwork or reorganise the album. NOt a huge issue, but it's nowhere near as seamless as QoBuz.
4. AcousticSounds - Only used them for 3 albums recently because they weren't available anywhere else. The site is incredibly dated (it's literally straight out of the mid 2000's), US currency only and sells Physical and Digital media. It can be confusing at times whether an album is available for download or not. The search function was somewhat useless, usually bringing chaotic results whenever I used it. I remember it mixing the Vinyl and Digital formats together, but it wasn't ordered. I think it pulls the "one-time-only" download crap too, so it gets a thumbs down from me. I'll only use it to get an album I can't get anywhere else.
5. 7Digital - I hate them with a passion. I used them exclusively before switching to QoBuz. Has a fairly broad range of genres available in lossless up to 24bit in FLAC only. You can re-download your purchases assuming they don't remove the files from their servers with NO warning. I've lost well over half of my purchases as they're "no longer available". To make matters worse they genuinely don't seem to care your loss because it's "in their T&C's".
Personally I can't stand anywhere single-download limit. It's stupid and offers no security to the buyer if their player crashes, breaks or the memory card dies. I've bought a product, not a service where I get temporary access that's end date is defined by the person taking my money.
I highly recommend QoBuz because you can actually rely on them as a backup solution if you happen to lose your files, give you unlimited downloads on your purchases and don't charge ridiculous prices. Their app is a nice touch and offers a much more convenient way of getting your purchases onto your phone, rather than having to transfer them with a laptop. This is especially useful for those stuck with iTunes on Windows. The fact I can choose what format I want from a drop down box before I download is a bonus. At the time of writing this I genuinely can't think of a reason why not to buy from them, unless what you're after isn't available through them - which is exactly their fault anyway, the record labels are the ones in charge of where the music is available. They've even promised to never remove previous purchases too but I had to email them to check as they don't seem to advertise that anywhere.
AVOID 7Digital LIKE THE PLAGUE. I don't care what their "small print" covers them against. I wouldn't have given them a penny if I had known that they would just cut off my access whenever they wanted. I don't even care if it was due to licensing restrictions, be reasonable and give people a heads up. There's no way they don't know that info in advance. I'd happily accept 48 hours notice by email, at least the ball is in my court then. 7Digital are the sole reason why I have everything backed up in several places now. I dread to think how much money I've lost because of their sh*tty business tactic; not only have I lost access to dozens of purchases, but I've had to waste time and money re-purchasing several albums and re-downloading them. I was unfortunate enough that both the MicroSD card and USB stick I had at the time literally died on the same day.
Hopefully others can take my experience of 7Digital as a harsh lesson not to support them any further. I don't like giving a company bad press online because they aren't in a position to defend themselves, but 7Digital have had plenty of opportunities to improve their delivery of their service. They know they're crapping on people and couldn't care less if they tried. They've earned the bad press here. Since then they've also closed down different regional stores and completely abolished people's login's
On a side note, does anyone know of a site that allows you to download region-exclusive releases? There are a lot of bonus tracks by artists I like that are limited to the Japanese market. Any thoughts?
Post your thoughts & reviews below!!
