DRM free and Legal MP3 or WMA downloads

[Cockney_si]

Anyonw know where I can get legal (yes I don't mind paying!) mp3/wma downloads that are free from this DRM stuff?

I've paid for and downloaded 2x wma's from the Tesco website and because of the DRM protection I can't copy them with the software I have for my digital player, and I can only upload unprotected mp3's of wma's.

[Joe Shmoe]

Sorry I can't answer your Question. But I thought you might like to know that you are not the only one with this problem. I too bought tracks from tesco but my problem is that I cannot burn them to disc. I do not have a seperate mp3 player. i've tried  countless pieces of advice and every thing is in order but it still won't work. I too want DRM Free files I wish you luck.

[Mobius1]

I'm not sure about this, but it's worth trying.

I believe that if you use a music encoding program (one that you'd use to, for instance, convert a WMA file into an MP3 file) the new track you create will be free of DRM meaning that you can transfer that file to whatever device you wish to use.

As I said, I'm not 100% on this, but I dfinitely recall hearing about it and reading a little into it. Considerin that there are many free (and free trial period) music conversion software packages on the Internet, I think this would be worth a try.

[Cockney_si]

Tried using several converting tools and it still doesn't work with protected DRM content.  Easier in the end to borrow the original cd from a friend (which is ileagal) or buy the cd in the first place.

[DragonUK82]

Get something like Napster - You can either sign up for 14.99 (optional) a month all access music (this is DRM'd) which gives you access to over 1 million songs provided you pay the 14.99 a month - Not too shabby - but you need a compatible MP3 player for that. The music also stops playing if you neglect to pay for the next month. There is no way around the dRM issue.

BUT - if you want, you can 'permanently' download the song/album but buying it (for say 7.99) this has DRM but it allows you to burn it onto CD since you have bought the rights to the CD. Programs like Nero burner recognize that you can burn these files... If you 'buy' the song then you should be able to burn it. You aren't required to pay any sort of subscription for that.