Music Downloads To Thailand

[RickBlaine]

Sorry if this had been covered before -I did a search on this forum but no joy - I am trying to legally download some music to my PC here, in Thailand.

Can anyone suggest a good site to use? I'm not looking for a 'dodgy' free site, just somewhere I can trust. I've checked some review websites but hit problems;

I wanted to use Amazon - I have an account with them, UK credit card, UK address, but they still wouldn't let me download to here.

(The new) Napster appears to be a subscription-only site - I will be an infrequent user.

Itunes - I dont have an iplayer but they have mp3 format - Their terms and conditions were 'unavailable', so still don't know if they will do it.

And so it went on.

I just want a legal, good quality (high bit rate), trusted name (virus free), pay-as-you-go MP3 site - must be DRM free as well - I want to make a CD for the house/car.

Anyone else been around this loop recently?

Thanks for your help.

[lothda]

I'm downloading from iTunes with US and German accounts without problems, so I assume a UK account would work as well. I'm not aware that they sell in MP3 format but the DRM-free files can easily be converted to MP3.

[Lite Beer]

A post advising illegal activities has been deleted.

[Supernova]

I just want a legal, good quality (high bit rate), trusted name (virus free), pay-as-you-go MP3 site - must be DRM free as well - I want to make a CD for the house/car.

DRM-free MP3s?! Get real dude...

You won't find any through legitimate distribution channels.

[chanwit]

If your credit card will accept at walmart.com, then that's a good option. Click on the Music-MP3 menu

I download MP3s and create CDs for the car and player devices.

Don't understand why it has to be DRM free for this kind of use.

[elshaheen]

ah, i don't get your point about free and legal music in Thailand. Come on, the industry is changing so fast now, it's not we are not in the 8-track age anymore.

[TerraPosse]

Gosh, I didn't know linking to the IFPI and RIAA was illegal here in Thailand...

[husskydog]

Just set up a UK vpn, as i persume the amazon account knows you are in thailand (your isp) will show this, and then amazon will think your are in the uk, and after all your are paying them...??

[xen]

I have found that if i try to download MP3 tracks from the States I am told the downloads are not available in my country (Australia) . This is from CD Universe and Amazon. I regularly buy CDs from CD Universe and have had an account with them for years so i persume it has something to do with the Free Trade Agreement between the two countries . Also when I try to download from i Tunes Store in the States which has a much larger choice of music - i am directed back to the Australian i Tunes store ( also the cost per track is about 2/3s more on the Australian site than in the States even tho the AUD is almost the same as the US dollar). Their range of music seems to be either Black Eyed Peas or Beyonce or other mainstream music , so what is the point of using them .I obviosly fall outside of their marketing demographics. The way i see it if You try to do legal downloads - and i don't mind paying Ceaser what is Ceaser's, then you are denied choice .

[lothda]

DRM-free MP3s?! Get real dude...

You won't find any through legitimate distribution channels.

Absolutely wrong. Amazon and other sites like Emusic offer MP3s for paid download. No DRM.

[Supernova]

^ Well, that definitely comes as a surprise to me... I've always thought legally downloadable music files are DRM protected. With all the noise the recording industry have been making over the MP3 format, let alone rampant piracy, one would think online retailers would use DRM to protect digital content.

[bkkmick]

I use MP3va for my music downloads. They say that they're legit but the albums are so cheap it makes me wonder.

[in2fridge]

I have an iTunes UK account registered at my brother's UK address - no worries,music/TV (Top Gear!)/free BBC podcasts..You register your account to pay by credit card or bank debit card (in this case a UK bank).

[RickBlaine]

Thanks to everyone for the advice, sorry if I confused anyone with my terminolgy - my knowledge is limited to what I have gathered from FAQ pages on music websites.

In particular thanks to lothda and in2fridge - I have downloaded itunes - no problem with a UK account. One small hiccup when the site tried to display instructions in Thai - fixed ok.

I forgot to mention that my mp3 player is a ZEN, itunes will only sync to iplayer of course, but I have got round it - export to mp3, then drag into Windows Media Player and sync from there, or burn a cd from itunes and then load that from WMP. Its all a bit clunky - would have preferred a one step sync like WMP, but I've got what I wanted; a legit, good quality site with a large choice of music.

Incidentally, for anyone else looking for a site, although the downloads are DRM free, there is a fair-play bit of software added to each burn (as far as I know from the help screens), which allows 5 copies to be made - more than enough for a legit home library.