Can I have some Napster advise?

[denbot]

Ali just bought a subscription and when she went to download an album, they want to charge her 10 bucks for a JOURNEY album. What gives? We thought the subscription which said was unlimited downloads, would let her download. Are we not getting something?

If napster sucks as much as I suspect it does, how should we go about getting music online?

[sammythecat]

1. ITunes seems to be the thing, but I've never used it.

I usually buy cd's via Amazon.com or else steal singles via WinMX (the REAL WinMX, not the one that calls itself WinMX Free. It's not free, and it's not good.)

on edit: you can download singles on Amazon for $.99 each, plus you can preview each song, which is nice.

[denbot]

2. Thanks.

If they are charging 14.95 a month, plus charging for the downloads, what is the 14.95 a month for? PS I'll check out WinMX, thanks again.

[sammythecat]

3. I should warn you, there's a bit of a learning curve with this

It won't be as convenient and immediate as buying it from ITunes or Amazon. Plus, when I use it (or any file sharing program like it) I'll generally download up to a half dozen of the same song. The quality can vary significantly, so it takes patience.

If you want to try it, go here: http://patch.winmxconex.com / and click on the blue link that says WinMX 3.54b4. Download and install.

I've tried others in the past and I still like this one the best. It's the only file sharing program I use now for music. If you're looking for a wide variety and/or more hard to find music, this is the one.

[crimsonblue]

4. with napster, you don't download music

you rent it. You never actually own the music with Napster. If you don't pay the monthly fee, then your music goes bye bye.

[denbot]

6. I see, thank you.

I was checking Ali's account status and she is on the 7 day free trial, but has given her cc info. I will try to find out how to make sure they don't bill us at the 7 day mark.

[crimsonblue]

8. If I were her, I'd cancel the trial.

Just switch to something like Amazon or iTunes. You can actually buy and own the music, and you won't face recurring monthly charges.

[Midlodemocrat]

5. The only thing I know is that my IT guy in NYC said

that Napster had a ton of crap attached. Like torrents. I know DS1 does the whole torrent thing, but wow. There was a ton of crap on my computer as a result of torrent.

I would PM him. He is really, really knowledgeable. I had the trojan from Hell and my IT guy in NYC and my local guy couldn't eradicate it. DS1 came through.

[denbot]

7. Thanks, I had installed Vuze a while back but Ali never used it.

I think I saw torrent on it, but I do not what it is.. Should I be worried?

[Midlodemocrat]

9. Gotta tell you. I don't know.

Seriously, talk to DS1. He really knows what he is doing.

[sammythecat]

10. This "torrent" is just a protocol for file sharing. Nothing wrong with it.

It's used mostly for larger files like movies. There's at least a dozen or more torrent programs, and like any other program you download and install, most are useful and legit but there's always some crapware floating around. I use one called µtorrent for movies. It's the smallest, leanest, and cleanest of the bunch I think. At least as of 2-3 years ago.

If you're interested in "for free" file sharing for music, etc., check out this site: http://www.zeropaid.com/programs / It has lists and user reviews of a host of programs. It also has a forum. It used to be an excellent resource. I imagine it still is, but I haven't been there for a few years. I've been happy with WinMX and µtorrent. One reason I like WinMX is because it's the "safest" of them all. Supposedly no one using it has ever been nailed by the RIAA. There are no centralized computers that can be monitored (or something like that). I consider it safe for myself.

Simplest method I think is to just use an established pay service.

[MrSlayer]

11. Napster sucks.

Use IRC. It's all free.