Ben
23rd August 2003, 04:16 PM
Anyone who has Windows Media Player version 7 upwards may have noticed the integration of MSN Music Club into "Premium Services" in their media player. Clicking for this service takes you to the integrated legal music download service launced a week or so ago by Microsoft in association with Od2.
Dotmusic was the first UK legal download service. It allowed you to download unlimited tracks that were usable for the lifetime of your subscription, and for an extra charge burn the odd one onto CD.
MSN Music Club goes one step further, allowing you to have permanent downloads from 62p each that can then be burned to CD, or just kept on your computer, even when you stop using the service.
The service also offers streams and temporary downloads which cost considerably less than the permanent downloads.
What drove me to try this you might wonder :P Well I'd been trying to download some songs on KaZaA and just getting fake after fake. I've never had fakes before. I decided that 62p was pretty good value for a really good quality download (especially as they download so fast), and the selection of music isn't too bad for my tastes. I'm hoping their collection will grow rapidly.
Another plus point is that the permanent downloads can be transferred by Windows Media Player to many compatible MP3 players.
I don't know whether I'll keep this service, but from what I've seen so far I'd probably recommend giving it a try, even if you just buy a few "Pay as you go" credits with no subscription. Of course, you can check out the content and sample the music without even signing up, so take a peak :P
Dotmusic was the first UK legal download service. It allowed you to download unlimited tracks that were usable for the lifetime of your subscription, and for an extra charge burn the odd one onto CD.
MSN Music Club goes one step further, allowing you to have permanent downloads from 62p each that can then be burned to CD, or just kept on your computer, even when you stop using the service.
The service also offers streams and temporary downloads which cost considerably less than the permanent downloads.
What drove me to try this you might wonder :P Well I'd been trying to download some songs on KaZaA and just getting fake after fake. I've never had fakes before. I decided that 62p was pretty good value for a really good quality download (especially as they download so fast), and the selection of music isn't too bad for my tastes. I'm hoping their collection will grow rapidly.
Another plus point is that the permanent downloads can be transferred by Windows Media Player to many compatible MP3 players.
I don't know whether I'll keep this service, but from what I've seen so far I'd probably recommend giving it a try, even if you just buy a few "Pay as you go" credits with no subscription. Of course, you can check out the content and sample the music without even signing up, so take a peak :P