A couple of days ago I wrote about Universal's SpiralFrog service, and mentioned some of its teething problems, such as the broken links, problem with downloads and so forth.
Well, I'm glad to say that it looks like most of the teething problems are resolved. There has been a lot of new music uploaded and overall (ignoring the DRM issues) it doesn't seem a bad service.
One strange point is this - I'm in the UK and was able to sign up without problems a couple of days ago. Now it claims that the service is only for USA and Canada only. And that the site is still in beta. I've had a look at the sign-up process, and it gives a large error that "You are connecting to SpiralFrog via UNITED KINGDOM." Eeek! Don't let those horrible Brits download free music!
Well, as far as I'm concerned I signed up in good faith, so pffffft! to the idea of not using the service now.
Showing posts with label WMA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WMA. Show all posts
Thursday, 20 September 2007
Tuesday, 18 September 2007
Psst! Hey buddy, want some free music?
Universal have released a new music service with a bit of a twist - you can download the albums for free.
Their SpiralFrog service has been in beta for a while but has now been released to the general public. You can subscribe for free, install their download manager and be off downloading legal music before you know it.
Providing you use Windows. And aren't allergic to DRM. And you don't want to burn it to CD. Or play it on the majority of MP3 players (such as IPods, Mobile Phones, cheap EBay Mp3 players).
If are willing to use Windows for your musical needs, or your MP3 player supports PlaysForSure DRM then you're laughing. There is a good selection of albums there already and the quality of the tracks is OK (128kbps). The site is still experiencing some teething problems, and I found that the easiest way to download an album was one track at a time, as having multiple tracks in the download list causes download errors after the first couple of tracks. There have also been more than a couple of 404 errors when following links on the site.
One other detail is that you'll need to renew your account every 30 days by answering some questions on their website. If you don't then your music stops working. Nice.
At present, if you are a Windows user and want a legal way to increase your music collection then this isn't a bad option, but for the rest of us it isn't as good as it could have been.
Their SpiralFrog service has been in beta for a while but has now been released to the general public. You can subscribe for free, install their download manager and be off downloading legal music before you know it.
Providing you use Windows. And aren't allergic to DRM. And you don't want to burn it to CD. Or play it on the majority of MP3 players (such as IPods, Mobile Phones, cheap EBay Mp3 players).
If are willing to use Windows for your musical needs, or your MP3 player supports PlaysForSure DRM then you're laughing. There is a good selection of albums there already and the quality of the tracks is OK (128kbps). The site is still experiencing some teething problems, and I found that the easiest way to download an album was one track at a time, as having multiple tracks in the download list causes download errors after the first couple of tracks. There have also been more than a couple of 404 errors when following links on the site.
One other detail is that you'll need to renew your account every 30 days by answering some questions on their website. If you don't then your music stops working. Nice.
At present, if you are a Windows user and want a legal way to increase your music collection then this isn't a bad option, but for the rest of us it isn't as good as it could have been.
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