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 May 1, 2009 The Digital Music Revolution: What Download Sites Have to Offer -- Part Seven
All tracks are DRM-free and offered in MP3, WAV, OGG, FLAC, and ACC formats. All are standard CD quality (16-bit/44.1kHz). Magnatune has no plans as yet to offer high-resolution files due to their size, but the repertory they offer is so rarified that you’re unlikely to find it elsewhere. Besides, the WAV files I downloaded (which I converted to Apple Lossless to use with iTunes and be able to display the cover art) sounded outstanding. The American Bach Soloists’ recordings of J.S. Bach’s B Minor Mass and Haydn’s "Little Organ" and "Nelson" masses sound better than any other CD versions I have in my collection. The price? Magnatune asks you to pay what you think the music is worth. If you buy just one item, you’ll come to a dropdown screen with suggestions such as: "$5, $6, $7, $8 (typical), $10 (better than average), $12 (generous), $15 (very generous), $18 (We love you)." Magnatune will also burn you a CD, at a considerably higher cost. There are several other appealing packages. You can buy a streaming or a download membership, which start at suggested prices of $5 and $10 per month, respectively. With a streaming membership, you can then listen to anything you want during the period you’ve paid for. With the download variety, you can download anything from Magnatune until your paid membership runs out. I paid $45 for a three-month membership, and figure that I’ve already got more than my money’s worth by downloading just six albums -- and half the money I’ve paid goes to the artists whose work I’m enjoying. For the rest of that time, I can just keep exploring. You can also license and download music to use in television broadcasts, weddings, or whatever, and you can do it all online, simply and efficiently. You get a WAV file and can print a license. And this is one site that gladly discloses everything -- Magnatune provides a wealth of information to read online about their mission, policies, and workings. Whatever you decide to pay and whichever plan you sign up for, you can pay for it with a major credit card or PayPal. Downloading is very simple: Pick a title and click on "download." This takes you to a screen where you pick the type of download format you want. Click your preference and your download begins. The big difference with Magnatune files is that the downloaded files are actually WinZip files -- in my case, WAV.zip. You’ll need WinZip (simple to use, and cheap) to unpack and use the file. When the file is unZipped, I put it in the Magnatunes folder I’ve created on my desktop. From there I can drag it into iTunes, convert it if I want to (I usually do -- WAV strips all the cover-art files away), then stream it to Squeezebox, from which I can listen to it through my main audio system. I had no problems downloading from Magnatune, and found the downloads to be very accurate. They were also quite a bit faster to download than from many other download sites, but then, CD-rez files aren’t as big as hi-rez ones. You can download the art as a high-quality jpg. If I goofed, I could go back and download again -- there seems to be no restriction on the number of times you can download an album, especially if you have a monthly membership. In fact, Magnatune is one of the most user- and artist-friendly sites I’ve come across. I’m very pleased with the American Bach Soloists recordings. In terms of performance and sound, they tower above much more expensive versions. I’m sure I’ll soon find other recordings on Magnatune that are just as worthy. And that’s the whole gimmick, and an honest one: artists making their wares available to be discovered. You gotta like that. . . . Rad Bennett
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This month’s installment is
devoted to a website that is unique in repertory, and lets the user buy a membership
instead of paying per item. The site, Magnatune (