Subscription based music services

September 14, 2008 2:49 PM

UK accessible subscription based music service recommendations please.

Desirable criteria:
- around 20 GBP a month or less
- allows you to keep your music even if you cancel your subscription
- legal

Cheers

posted by like_neon to media & arts (6 comments total)

- allows you to keep your music even if you cancel your subscription

Uhm, then it would be music you bought, wouldn't it?
posted by maremare at 3:20 PM on September 14, 2008

I used to use E-Music a few years ago. This may still fulfil your criteria.

These days I am a subscriber at LastFM. This is not the same as a "download and keep" service but it is very much more than an online radio station if you choose to explore a bit. For example subscribers can produce playlists of music that they are interested in and then listen just to these. Some tracks can also be listened to in full on demand and a few are available as free downloads. These days I use the service to discover new music and give the stuff I think I will like a few more listens. If I do end up liking it I can buy it at that point.
posted by rongorongo at 3:24 PM on September 14, 2008

Magnatune?
posted by Iosephus at 4:24 PM on September 14, 2008

The only UK subscription music service that allows you to keep the music once you've finished subscribing is eMusic, and that only offers music from independent labels. It has, however, been in business since 1999 and really is rather good, not least because all the tracks are MP3s.

If you can hang on for a few months you will find two services that fit the bill. These have both been announced publicly so if you search Google you will find news stories about them.

The first is Nokia's Comes With Music. This service is effectively free if you buy a Nokia phone or take out a phone tariff compatible with the Nokia phone. You get unlimited access to music (they reckon they will have all the main record labels on board by the time they launch, which will be before Christmas). The music can be played forever on that phone or one computer at a time that you specify. The tracks will be protected by DRM (digital rights management, ie copy protection) to stop you sending the tracks to a friend. But they will play forever.

The second is from the satellite TV company Sky, but won't require for you to have a Sky subscription. They have announced Universal Music as a supporter but again expect to get all the major labels on board. The way Sky's service will work is that it will have a monthly fee with unlimited streaming of all music; on top of this you will get a certain number of free downloads each month to keep. These will be in the MP3 format so they'll play on anything.
posted by skylar at 4:57 AM on September 15, 2008

we7 lets you download plain ol'e mp3's for free, and has a lot of content in the UK that they don't have available to those of us in the US. The catch is that the mp3 has a 5 second ad at the begining, easily removed with audacity or other editors. There's also a method where you can 'earn' ad-free tracks, but it's never worked for me, mostly I think because they don't have any US advertisers to pay for them.
posted by nomisxid at 8:34 AM on September 15, 2008

Thank you everyone. This question is actually for my boyfriend who does not mind making an investment for a the first few months or even year as long as it fulfills the other criteria. So for these reasons I think skylar's recommendations are best so far.
posted by like_neon at 12:34 PM on September 15, 2008