was thinking instead of getting my dad a cd for his bday i'd set up an account on one of these websites where you can download albums for a couple of quid. can anyone suggest some good/easy to use and reliable ones.

thanks

If its a birthday present wouldnt it be better to buy the actual cd?

I use Napster and iTunes. Both have very extensive music libraries - iTunes has a larger overall selection, I think, but Napster has alot of indie / alternative stuff that iTunes doesn't (which is why I personally prefer it.)

Both sites sell gift vouchers, where you can buy credit for purchasing downloads, which makes a nice, easy gift idea for people who subscribe to the services.

probably iTunes, I use it all the time

I don't think he'd be too impressed with a CDR, even if you did pay a couple of quid for it. A lot of albums are only like £8.99 in the shops these days

The only site were you can download current albums for 'a couple of quid' is allof mp3.com. All others the likes of iTunes, napster etc they will be in the region of £6-£8. Also you will have a protected CD, which means it can only be 'ripped' so many times or put onto so many MP3 players. IF you use allofmp3.com there is no restriction. But I certainly would neevr go down the route of using a CDR for a present, that is just kind of cheap.

i wasnt going to give him a cdr for his bday, i was going to buy a normal cd's worth of credit so he can get say 6/7 albums for the car or in the kitchen! registered with all of mp3 but it wont let me add credit with a credit card/switch and sends me to another site which seems to want foreign cards only, HELP!

You can do it by setting up an xprost account. I done this yesterday. Mainly because VISA & Mastercard have stopped payments to the compnay. But if you set up an xprost you can circumvent it.
just follow the ionstructions and you can do it that way

I don't pretend that all dads are the same, but if my son got me an account with allofmp3 as a present I'd be quite upset. As he's a keen musician it would be like a turkey buying a box of Christmas crackers for his dad.

At the risk of going all over it again, there is still question marks over allofmp3's legality, so be careful.

http://www.legalsounds.com

Legal and cheaper than the infamous allofmp3.com, highly recommended!

Wouldn't it be more like a turkey buying a pack of golden drummers or something for his dad? What should the turkey buy his dad? Marks and sparks finest turkey or organic?

What happens to Napster files when you end your subscription with them?

Thanks for the link to this site which is certainly cheaper than allofmp3 although I don't think it's music catalogue is as extensive.

As to it being more 'legal' , well I don't think that it is actually.

Both sites have licences issued by ROMS, which body within Russia has the right , as I understand it, to issue licences allowing the distribution of copywritten material without first seeking the permission of the copywright owners.

I can't see that legalsounds is doing anything different.

Having said that, I shall continue to use allofmp3 until the legal position as regards the importation of legitimately purchased material within Russia is clarified by the UK judiciary.

Have I misunderstood the legal position regarding Legalsounds?