well, I have (another) confession to make ...

[dissent]

... I've never downloaded music before. I'd like to download (legal) copies of a select group of songs, and pay for them of course. I want to have them available as mp3 files. (Not as some proprietary audio player format; I don't even have one of those) What are the recommendations of you young folk for the best ways to do this? I have a recollection of a couple years back where I had to help one of my relatives completely wipe their system and reinstall everything because of the way Morpheus (or was it Kazaa) had borked their system with spyware, adware and who knows what else. I have no interest in repeating that episode. Suggeations please on software, legit purchase sites, etc.?? Thanks.

[Testiculese]

allofmp3.com is the best if you can get credit on the site. The RIAA doesn't like it, so Visa/Mastercard blocked sales to the site.

[AceCombat]

iTunes and Napster are the only two i can think of that you pay for as you download.

LimeWire is a nice program, i use it. only costs ~ 18$ for 6 months of service.

[JMEaT]

There is software available that will convert the iTunes files to non-DRM MP3's.

[Krom]

Some of this thread is DBB warez/piracy gray area, be careful or I might have to lock it.

[dissent]

yeah - no warez plz (see OP)

[Genghis]

It's OK, there's a completely legal way to turn your DRM'ed .m4p files to unrestricted .mp3 files. Itunes itself will let you burn the .m4p's to CD, and then you can re-rip them to .mp3. Admittedly, this is a hassle if you buy a ton of music through Itunes, but I've only bought a handful so it's no hardship.

They left this loophole in on purpose. They just make it harder to free up your music so the average user won't know how or won't bother to.

[Krom]

It's OK, there's a completely legal way to turn your DRM'ed .m4p files to unrestricted .mp3 files. Itunes itself will let you burn the .m4p's to CD, and then you can re-rip them to .mp3. Admittedly, this is a hassle if you buy a ton of music through Itunes, but I've only bought a handful so it's no hardship.

They left this loophole in on purpose. They just make it harder to free up your music so the average user won't know how or won't bother to.

Quick fix: use a high speed CDRW disk for this. The disk will probably outlast your need to burn then rip the files back. Only use a regular CDR for stuff you want to keep and play in your car or other CD players. I recommend backing up the actual final MP3 files to optical media when you are finished. Also, use a program like foobar2000 to properly tag your MP3 files (you will thank yourself for taking the extra time to do that later when you go to use your files).

[DCrazy]

If you're going the burn/re-rip route, you could get a utility to mount a folder as a CD drive (there are freeware ones that exist), bypassing the need for any physical media altogether, and offering a REAL speed boost to boot.

Just be aware that you will be losing audio quality if you burn and re-rip, unless you re-rip as lossless AAC, WAV, or FLAC (which iTunes doesn't support).

[Plague]

Another way to legally convert iTunes m4p files and WM wma files to mp3 is to use a program that will play the recorded file and re-record it as an mp3 (this does not crack the DRM, and therefore falls under fair use laws). I use Tunebite. This is usually done in real time, but you can batch process your library over several evenings and not worry about CDs and ripping back into iTunes.

[dissent]

recommended (legit) software for converting tracks from my cd collection to individual mp3's??

[Lothar]

recommended (legit) software for converting tracks from my cd collection to individual mp3's??

cdex. I've used it for maybe 4-5 years.

[Genghis]

cdex.

Second that. Next you'll want to ask what bitrate to rip at. I suggest 192 as a compromise between quality and space.

[Testiculese]

192VBR at minimum.