I’m working on a very special mixed CD and thought it would make more sense (and for the artists–cents) if I legally downloaded. It’s faster than trolling the Internet for random bad free copies and while, ultimately, I’ll spend about $14 for the songs, they’re all ones that I particularly enjoy and they’ll be in order that I choose. Also–I kind of doubt anyone but me would put Anastacia, Linkin Park, Cascada, and Natasha Bedingfield all on the same CD. I could be wrong though.

So there was the search to decide what service I wanted to use. I’ve heard various opinions and I’ve seen all of the slightly sketchy looking “legal” services online. I don’t own an Ipod or a Mac–so getting anything from ITunes was not an option. (I do have an Mp3 player, just not one of the Apple variety and I’m okay with that.)

I use Yahoo!Music often at home while I’m locked in front of a keyboard and monitor and enjoy getting to see new music videos and listen to the radio that they offer–so it made sense to see what they had for this particular project. I considered signing up for Yahoo!Unlimited–except for one little thing. It lets me listen to music, create lists, etc etc etc–but I don’t actually own a copy of the music. If I wanted to transfer the music to just my Mp3 player–I would have to pay a higher monthly fee–and if I wanted to own a song outright–it was only 20 cents cheaper than just buying the songs to begin with. Considering that I’m not planning on downloading the 500+ songs that it would take in a year to balance the subscription fee–I’m not sure when it would be a better option.

Perhaps if I listened to music at work–something I currently can’t do.

Does anyone use this service that finds it useful? What downloading services do you use?