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Comment by jimt1234 | Hacker News Reader

Here's a related question that I should be embarrassed to ask: How do I actually purchase my own copy of music these days? I mean, my own file that I can store on whatever file system I choose. I honestly don't know if it's even possible these days. Do I need to purchase a CD, then rip it myself? If so, are artists generally still pressing and distributing CDs? I recall Amazon Music used to have a "Download mp3" feature, but not sure if they still offer that.

I apologize if this is a stupid question, but I really don't know. I've just been pressing "play" on my streaming service for so long, I forgot all about actually "owning" music.

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> How do I actually purchase my own copy of music these days?

I buy my music on CDs or through a service like Bandcamp that lets me purchase music directly in a non-DRM lossless format.

I've also had some good luck buying music directly from the websites of the musicians that made it.

> Do I need to purchase a CD, then rip it myself?

That's what I do if I can't find a good encoding for purchase.

> If so, are artists generally still pressing and distributing CDs?

A lot are, yes, but it depends on what sort of music you're into. Another great source, if you like small indie bands, is to go to their concerts and buy the CDs they always have for sale there.

> I recall Amazon Music used to have a "Download mp3" feature, but not sure if they still offer that.

They do, but don't do that. Their MP3s are poor quality (and you don't want MP3s anyway. Look for something lossless like FLAC).

> Do I need to purchase a CD, then rip it myself? If so, are artists generally still pressing and distributing CDs?

Ideally, yes and yes unless you can find it in a lossless, DRM-free format.

For best accuracy, use something like EAC or dbPowerAmp to rip.

Indie stuff is on Bandcamp.

Mainstream stuff, iTunes has the biggest collection, but Qobuz and 7digital more reliably have lossless (a lot of the iTunes long tail is stuff encoded in the mid-00s) and work without a dedicated client app.

Pretty sure Apple Music still let's you but actual music, and it used to be DRM free so you can download and do as you wish with it. They will relentlessly push the subscription service though.

Personally, I buy from https://bleep.com/ , I've been using them for well over a decade, I find it excellent for indie and electronic stuff, and still buy random albums from their recommended section if I want to try something new.

For classical music, there is https://www.chandos.net. Available formats vary by album, but I believe mp3 and flac are common and downloading albums is easy in my experience. I've found some obscure titles there, too.

If you don’t need high quality files I’m 99% iTunes dropped DRM 15 years ago and you can do what you want with those files.

I collect vinyl to own my music and a lot of modern vinyl releases include a download code.

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