MUSIC DOWNLOADS GUIDE

Had an experience with music track downloading ?

The first step to getting your fave tracks on your Ipod or similar is to transfer it via your internet connection to your home computer. The first thing worth pointing out is for downloading mp3 and aiff music files can take some time - especially if you intend downloading a complete album, so it is worth upgrading from slow dialup to a fast broadband connection, and make sure you get plenty of bandwidth allowance the following broadband ISPs are a good choice and we (cashbacktoyou) have partnered to offer cashback when you join.

Where To Download

To transfer the music to your PC you'll need to access a music website, we recommend iTunes for Ipod compatible downloading they also provide the media player or so-called jukebox software.

IWindows XP 2000 NT or 98 comes with the Windows Media Player - if it's not yet installed use your Windows disk to install this optional applet onto your desktop. Mac users look for pre-installed iTunes media player (only compatible with Apple's iPod).

Rival MP3 player manufacturers such as iRiver and Archos - see yellow box rhs - may produce their own jukebox software.

Another popular site that is now legal is Napster

Alternatively to downloading is so called RIPPING tracks from your own CDs, providing this is for your own use then there should be no copyright issues eventhough this is technically a breach .

Connecting Your MP3 Player To Your PC

PC and Mac users can use the USB port ( or Firewire port ), these are Plug and Play compliant which means as soon as you connect the iPOD or alternative, the PC and player recognise each other and automatically connect.

The Download Process

1. Ripping Tracks

You then need to simply enter your music compact disk in your cdrom drive, and run your jukebox software - this will then automatically search the net for track info such as genre titles etc. which helps with cataloguing on your iPOD. This is done by a clever bit of software called Gracenote with iTunes. Simply complete download by selecting which tracks you want on your iPOD and click the IMPORT button.

1. Downloading Commercial Tracks

iTunes has it's own music shop - the iTunes store - open the iTunes program on your PC then select MUSIC STORE .

There are many more such as Napster (see link above), Wippit, Streets-Online, eClassical, Bleep.com, MSN music club and Mycoke to name a few.

All contain a full music shop of albums and singles, and most enable you to audition the music before purchasing.