Sorry, I should have specified. iTunes requires you to download a client that needs WinXP or Win2000 to run. I'm still running Win98. Also, I'm stuck behind a university firewall, so p2p client-based sites likely won't work. Is there a place where you can download songs directly off a site or server via the web? That would be ideal.
Is there a place where you can download songs directly off a site or server via the web? __________________________ all of mp3
The latest version of napster runs through Windows Media Player (version 9 or 10, I believe), that's $10 per month plus 99 cents for each song you burn to a cd. Unfortunately, they save music files as .wma, not mp3. Other than that, I'm not sure. Anyone?
I came across this site the other day. Although I have not downloaded anything, I did listen to quite a bit of stuff. Can't comment on the reliability or quality. They have a lot of Beatles stuff. Including the entire rooftop concert. http://www.mp3search.ru/
I love www.emusic.com. It's 25 cents a song. Granted, it's indie labels rather than the big boys, so you won't find Beyonce and Enema, but there is some really good stuff there.
I goto www.garageband.com when I'm looking for something to chill to. They don't have any big name artists (hence the name), but they have some pretty good songs here and there.
iTunes songs are actually in AAC format, and they use a digital rights management scheme that can only be used with iPods (and Mac or Windows XP computers, of course). Real uses AAC as well (192 kbps, no less), and they've found a way to make their songs work with iPods (at least for now). Everyone else that carries music from major labels (MusicMatch, MSN Music, Napster, MusicNow, and even Wal-Mart) comes in WMA. As long as your "mp3" player is compatible with Microsoft's digital rights management, any of these should work with it. If you're going to play them only on your computer, I guess it doesn't matter which you choose, except I'm not sure how many of them can be used with Windows 98. I'd check on the MusicMatch site. It works through the MusicMatch player (even the free one), so I can't think of why it wouldn't work with Windows 98. I've been playing with some of the WMA sites. I purchased a Front Line Assembly song from MusicMatch that can't decide if it's 160 or 320 kbps. It's a variable bitrate file, so that might have something to do with it. I bought a Front 242 song from MSN Music that's encoded at 256 kbps. Both sound great.
I've been using AudioJack which records music off of web radio stations. It's free to try and really works. http://www.audiojack.de/?file=Index&lang=english