[access-uk] Re: My experiences with legal download services
- From: "Andrew Hodgson" <andrew@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 30 May 2004 16:29:18 +0100
Hi all,
I should have said actually that for every =A31 you spend with them, =
Oxfam get 10p out of this.
Hope this helps,
Andrew.=20
> -----Original Message-----
> From: access-uk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx=20
> [mailto:access-uk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Ray's Home
> Sent: 30 May 2004 03:14
> To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [access-uk] Re: My experiences with legal download services
>=20
> Thanks Andrew for a very thorough and informative article on=20
> the Oxfam way
> of doing business.
>=20
> The credits thing is a real put-off for me. I'd much rather=20
> pay straight
> cash and know what the percentage is that I'm paying over=20
> that goes to
> Exfam. You have told me enough to know its not for me. And=20
> the varying
> degrees to which you are allowed to burn music to CD would be=20
> a turn-off to
> me as well.
>=20
> Its an iteresting idea though, and much more preferable to=20
> Charity Muggers
> on the streets getting people to sign up without telling them=20
> that, very
> often, the first year's donation goes to the fund raiser. I=20
> for one though
> would not mind RNIB and others going this route with an=20
> accessible website
> and a trasparent business like way of trading and fund raising.
>=20
> Before I stray off topic even more, cheers.
>=20
> From Ray.
>=20
> ----- Original Message -----=20
> From: "Andrew Hodgson" <andrew@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Saturday, May 29, 2004 10:56 PM
> Subject: [access-uk] My experiences with legal download services
>=20
>=20
> > Hi all,
> >
> > I decided today, since I got a free gift voucher from a=20
> friend who has =3D
> > an Oxfam magazine, to try out their www.bignoisemusic.com=20
> legal download =3D
> > service.
> >
> > On the whole, the website is accessible, with the odd pop=20
> up menu at the =3D
> > top of the screen, but nothing that can't be got round=20
> without using the =3D
> > JFW cursor or whatever.
> >
> > You start by creating an account, and loading the account up with =
=3D
> > credits. Of course, you can only buy these in packets, and=20
> as the free =3D
> > gift was only for the =3DA32 offer, I had to buy some more in=20
> order to =3D
> > download full albums, which was what I wanted to do. In=20
> the end, I =3D
> > decided to buy =3DA320 worth of credits, because I wanted to=20
> see if I =3D
> > could download two albums from it, as my sister wanted a=20
> live Coldplay =3D
> > exclusive. This gave me just over 2000 credits, the object=20
> of this =3D
> > probably is to make you go out and buy more credits,=20
> because you have =3D
> > credits left over from buying a few albums/tracks. The=20
> more credits you =3D
> > buy in a package like this, the more you get. For example,=20
> if you buy a =3D
> > =3DA32 credit pack, you get 200 credits, (i.e, 100 credits=20
> being =3DA31). =3D
> > If you buy =3DA310 worth of credits, you get slightly more than 1000 =
=3D
> > credits. Of course you can only buy the credits in these=20
> packs. I =3D
> > really hate the idea of these credits, as you don't really=20
> know where =3D
> > you stand, which is what I feel is the intent of this system.
> >
> > You can either download a track, download an album, or=20
> stream a track. =3D
> > You can also stream a 30 second demo of any track on the=20
> system. To =3D
> > stream a full track it costs 1 credit, and to download a=20
> track it costs =3D
> > I think around 100 credits.
> >
> > You can search either by artist, genre or by a specific=20
> track. You can =3D
> > also pick from the exclusives that are listed on the front=20
> page. This =3D
> > is all very easy. Once you get to an album/track listing,=20
> you can as I =3D
> > said either download the full album, an individual track or=20
> stream it. =3D
> > On my 64k ISDN connection, I streamed a 30 second demo of a=20
> track, but =3D
> > it got streamed at broadband rates (not sure what the=20
> quality was), and =3D
> > thus it was awful this end. The streamer isn't grate=20
> either, being done =3D
> > within IE itself. I didn't therefor bother any more with=20
> the streaming =3D
> > capabilities.
> >
> > I then went to download a full album. I choose ``Earth=20
> Moving'', by =3D
> > Mike Oldfield. I didn't expect much from this album, after=20
> all, I had =3D
> > been sherking buying it for a long while, because I have=20
> some of the =3D
> > singles from that period, and they are truly awful. Lets=20
> just say I =3D
> > wasn't disapointed with the results.
> >
> > Anyway, this album cost just over 700 credits, (i.e, =3DA37),=20
> which isn't =3D
> > really any cheaper than buying it from Amazon in my view. =20
> I choose to =3D
> > download the album in its entirity, and it went away and gave me a =
=3D
> > standard download box.
> >
> > The surprise here was that it gave me one file to download,=20
> with all the =3D
> > tracks put into one file, approx 38 mb. While this doesn't=20
> seem to be =3D
> > compressed, it was very convenient having it all in the one=20
> file like =3D
> > this, especially as I am on effectively dialup. I could go=20
> and leave it =3D
> > for a while, whilst doing something else, without having to=20
> check on =3D
> > which tracks have downloaded etc.
> >
> > On running this file, I got Windows Media Player, which had=20
> to be set =3D
> > up, as I hadn't used it on this system before, which then=20
> extracted the =3D
> > .wma files from the archive. I could then go and play the=20
> album in the =3D
> > playlist of Windows Media player, but I came out of this=20
> and attempted =3D
> > to play using Winamp.
> >
> > The process went ok, except for at the point when I had to=20
> enter my user =3D
> > details, it threw me out giving me a ``media player not=20
> supported'' =3D
> > message.
> >
> > Anyway, back in Media player, I got the same prompts for =3D
> > username/password, and it got the license for me fine. I=20
> can now play =3D
> > the files, and I get the artwork etc for the CD. Of=20
> course, the usual =3D
> > accessability issues with WMP still stand, and I was really=20
> annoyed that =3D
> > I could not use Winamp.
> >
> > In order to get these files to MP3, I had to burn them onto=20
> CD as WMA =3D
> > files converted to an audio CD, then use my MP3 ripper to=20
> get them back =3D
> > to MP3. I am really not sure whether I lost any quality in=20
> doing this.
> >
> > I was able to get the files onto my Creative jukebox=20
> player, but the =3D
> > players have to support DRM (i.e, be ``secure players'', my=20
> phone or the =3D
> > Bookport not being one of these. Of course, also, the=20
> files are in WMA =3D
> > format, so the player must support these.
> >
> > Looking further at the site, it appears that you also have=20
> to be careful =3D
> > with the rights that a specific publisher gives you (i.e, I=20
> looked at =3D
> > another album that I was interested in), but it only said I=20
> could keep =3D
> > the music tracks for a ``limited period''. Another album I=20
> saw wouldn't =3D
> > give me rights to burn onto CD or transfer to an audio=20
> player. The FAQ =3D
> > also mentions you may have trouble if you don't back up the=20
> Windows =3D
> > licenses you are given, some publishers allow the licenses to be =3D
> > re-granted if the system goes belly up, some don't.
> >
> > All in all, it was an interesting experience, but I think I=20
> will stick =3D
> > to regular CDs after this, even though I am donating to=20
> Oxfam while =3D
> > feeding my music habbit!!
> >
> > Andrew.
> >
> >
>=20
>=20
>=20
>=20
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