The Bleep music download site may not have such a vast catalog of audio tracks and albums as other larger online music stores but it’s still more than worth a look if you really like your music.
This is especially true if you are a fan of alternative or independent bands and artists. You won’t find many major names on Bleep – but this site will be heaven to the indie listener. There is all kind of stuff here ranging from established artists through to emerging bands.
The real big advantage to the site is the fact that all tracks and albums are available in MP3 format. So there are no DRM (Digital Rights Management) issues here at all – once you buy and download a track it’s yours to keep forever.
So, you can transfer stuff to any MP3 player you like or most any other portable device (it even works with the iPod!) and you’ll get unlimited plays, transfers and burns to CD forever. This is a very big deal in the digital music sector and it’s all perfectly legal so you’ll have no worries there about rights issues and so on. Few download sites are able to offer this kind of flexibility and freedom to download enthusiasts.
Another big plus here is that all tracks and albums on site are competitively priced and that you can buy as little or as much music as you like. You won’t find yourself tied into subscriptions or large payment plans – you just click, pay and download with Bleep. This is great news for both the regular downloader and the occasional user.
The site has committed to sound quality as well here. Tracks are LAME encoded to give you the best possible sound quality without making the track file size unmanageably large. And, you won’t just get a small preview of songs here if you want to listen before you buy. The system on this download site allows you to listen to the whole track if you like.
You will have to keep clicking on the Play Preview button to do this to best effect but at least you’ll have heard what you are ultimately buying in full before you commit to buy it. Be aware that the preview audio quality has been set at a lower rate to make it quicker to download – the quality of the tracks you do choose to buy will consequently be of a much higher quality.
One of the big downsides to this service for many mainstream listeners is that it doesn’t license much music from major names. It is unlikely therefore – if you fall into this category – that you’ll find everything you want on this site. Some users may find that they use this service in tandem with other sites because they want access to the artists on offer here or because prices (especially for albums) are more competitive than on other larger sites.
One thing to watch out for here is that the site may charge a small surcharge transaction fee if you buy your downloads with certain cards or in certain ways. This will only apply if you spend under a certain amount of money, however. So, you can get round the issue by waiting until you have enough tracks to buy to exceed the spend limit or by using alternative methods of payment. It’s also worth noting that the site is one of the few services out there that will let you pay by PayPal which is one reason for its popularity.
Also see subscription music download services for more details.