LiveDownloads is a specialist audio download site that specifically offers live music to its users.
So, for example, you can download all kinds of concerts and shows from different kinds of artists and bands. The key thing here is that you are able to purely access live music at your convenience – this just isn’t your standard online digital music store.
The site was set up to help bands promote themselves and to sell direct to their fans. With this site you’ll know that the majority of the money you pay for any given download will go to the band you like rather than just to the download site which is an added bonus. Plus you’ll be making sure that all their rights are protected.
The LiveDownloads site promotes various kinds of artists and bands – with many of them offering a back catalog of live performances to download. So you can get hold of a good mix of new and older music here. You can even download entire tours in some cases (and these will often be offered at discounted rates). In addition you may also be able to download relevant CD labels, tray liners and booklets in a PDF format to make your download complete.
Live show downloads tend to hit the site quite quickly after they have taken place – the site states that many are mastered directly from the soundboard at shows. In some cases, the site also sells studio albums for certain artists. Once you’ve downloaded the show(s) or albums of your choice to your computer you can listen to them from there, burn them to CD or simply transfer them to a portable device such as your MP3 player.
This site uses an innovative range of technology to deliver its downloads. For example, you can download music as either standard MP3 format or in a format called FLAC. FLAC is a high quality format that is compressed without losing audio quality – it is widely considered to be as close to the original as you can get with this kind of software.
There are a couple of downsides to FLAC however. For a start the higher quality you get will be charged at a higher cost. And, you may need to download a FLAC plugin to burn CDs from this format or to listen on your PC. MAC users with older operating systems may also find that FLAC is not supported by their system at all. And, if your sole purpose of downloading live music from the site is to put it on your portable player then you may well find that you will have to convert the FLAC files into other formats (such as MP3 or WAV) before your player will accept it. So, it’s worth while checking what you’ll use FLAC for and what you will get out of it before you commit to paying extra for files in this format.
You also need to be aware that there are limited artists/bands on site – they are all generally of an ‘alternative’ genre. So, you can’t expect to download shows from major bands as a given on this site.
One tip to remember with LiveDownloads is that you are given a specified period of time to make your downloads. It’s also vital to make sure you choose your preferred format early on. You can’t, for example, buy a show in FLAC and then download it again free as an MP3 or vice versa. If you decide you want to download a show in a different format then you’ll have to pay for it all over again. The site recommends MP3 as a starting point for new users until you get used to the service and recommends FLAC for serious music enthusiasts.
For more information on legal music software go here!